Thanksgiving
"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving" (Col. 4:2)
I love verses like this. I love digging in and contemplating what the writer might mean. So, as I read this verse I find myself asking Paul, "What do you mean by telling us to keep alert in our devoted prayer with an attitude of thanksgiving?"
Today is the day after Thanksgiving. Yesterday was a day filled with pondering prayer filled with an attitude of thanksgiving. It was easy. It was Thanksgiving. But what about the days that aren't intentionally focused on gratitude? Paul is telling us that it is important for us to continue to have an attitude of thanksgiving in our prayer life at all times. He even uses the phrase "keep alert in it". Paul is trying to warn us about a danger that can creep up in our spiritual lives. The danger is a loss of the attitude of thanksgiving. Too soon our spiritual lives lose the spirit of gratitude and shift to a spirit of coveting. Amazingly we shift from being content with all the rich blessings that God has provided, to being insatiably driven for more. We begin to covet what we do not have. Our focus changes and our contentment fades away.
Paul wants us to never let go of our attitude of gratitude. He knows how quickly and powerfully the spirit of covetous can sneak into our lives. So he directs us to stay alert. He tells us to exert effort in maintaining a spirit of thanksgiving. Living in the spirit of gratitude puts us into the right frame of mind with God and with the world. It tells us that the feeling we had yesterday is not just a feeling for one day, but can be for a lifetime.
Read the verse one more time, and practice it for a lifetime.
Peace!
Tom
Created over 2 years ago
