"Be Ye Thankful"               

Colossians 3:15

 

     Paul admonishes us to be thankful because thanks- giving is the will of God (I Thess. 5:18), thanksgiving is the secret to living in peace (Phil. 4:4-7), and thanksgiving is an act of faith that is most honoring to God. The natural man may express thanksgiving for what he has in his hand. But the believer, the person of faith, is thankful for what he has in his heart and what he has in Christ, even if he has nothing in his hand. For all the blessings of grace freely bestowed upon us in Christ we should always be thankful to God.

     "Be ye thankful" for God's electing love. "Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praise unto his name, for it is pleasant. For the LORD hath chosen (you!) unto himself, and for his peculiar treasure" (Psa. 135:3-4). Election is cause for thanksgiving (II Thess. 2:13-14).

     "Be ye thankful" for your redemption by the pre- cious blood of Christ (Psa. 103:1-4). "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,for he hath visited and redeemed his people" (Lk.1:68). Our redemption is to be a matter of great,unceasing thanksgiving because it is special,par- ticular and distinguishing (Rev.5:9-10),effectual (Gal. 3:13), plenteous (Psa. 130:7) and eternal (Heb. 9:12).

    "Be ye thankful" for the pardon and forgiveness of your sin (Isa. 43:25). To be redeemed is to be forgiven. God, through the blood of Christ, freely, completely, constantly and eternally forgives all the sins of all who trust his dear Son.

     "Be ye thankful" for God's adopting grace. "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God" (I John 3:1).      "Be ye thankful" for the Spirit's effectual, irresistible regenerating grace. "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth" (James 1:18). The new birth is the Spirit's work. He gave us light, life and faith in Christ.

     "Be ye thankful" for the blessed victory that is ours through grace (I Cor. 15:57). In Christ we shall triumph over all our enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil. If we belong to God, we shall not fail to win this warfare. We shall persevere because we are preserved by grace. We shall be delivered from this body of death. And our very bodies shall be delivered from the grave. "Be ye thankful!"

 

Don Fortner