“…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” —Colossians 1:12
THE ESSENCE OF the Christian life is gratitude. The Christian is called to be thankful to God in all things. The Apostle Paul exhorts believers to practice “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). And in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 believers are commanded to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” How can believers be unthankful when the Scriptures tell us that we have been delivered from Satan, sin, and Hell by the person and work of Jesus Christ? How can believers be unthankful when God has promised that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28)?
AS BELIEVERS, we need to realize our inheritance in Jesus Christ, and how we have received full forgiveness of all our sins because of the law-fulfilling life and sin-atoning death of Jesus Christ. The more we think on these things the more thankful we will become as God’s redeemed people, and then the more praise we will render to God for the salvation in His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
DO YOU CONSIDER yourself to be a thankful person? If you struggle to give thanks to God in everything, and in all circumstances, then you need to meditate more often on the person and work of Jesus Christ. You need to think about the truth that Christ has fulfilled all the righteous demands of God’s Law so that believers, by true faith, might stand in His imputed righteousness before the Holy God of Scripture. As Christians, we need to reminisce on how Christ has covered the sins of every believer in His precious blood before the Throne of God so that they might be received into God’s favor and adopted as His dear children. Given these truths, it is clear to see that there is no room in the Christian life for an unthankful, discontent, disgruntled, complaining heart. Rather, we are called to, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5).
Tuesday Encouragement: August 26, 2025
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
