Abounding in Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for, but sometimes we get loaded down with responsibilities and tasks at Thanksgiving (and other times!) and it can be hard to be truly grateful. To avoid being stuck trying to manufacture gratitude, we can take Paul’s advice to the Colossians and we can abound in thanksgiving.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7 ESV

In this short verse, Paul uses three separate metaphors to describe his instruction to focus on Jesus. First, being “rooted” is a gardening metaphor. To root requires being planted and it requires cultivation. We root ourselves in Christ when we study Scripture and pray, and when we depend on Him for our needs. When we root ourselves in something other than Christ, such as a job or material wealth, if those things disappear we will be uprooted. But, when we root ourselves in Christ, we can never be uprooted because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). 

Paul also uses a building metaphor when he instructs us to be “built up in him.” Jesus is our firm foundation. And finally, Paul employs a legal metaphor by using the term “established,” which is the same word for a legal decision that cannot be overturned. Our identity and our future are both secure in Jesus.  

Paul says that if we are rooted, built up and firm in the faith, we will abound in thanksgiving. When we are rooted and secure, we find that our gratitude begins to overflow. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this month, we remember we are rooted in the love, grace and truth of Jesus and both our identities and our futures are secure in Him. We pray our gratitude overflows when we contemplate what we have in Jesus!