Read
Colossians 2:6-7 (NIV)

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Reflect

Rooted, built up, strengthened and overflowing! That sounds like a good way to live, doesn’t it? These verses say that if we are to continue to live with Jesus as our Lord, this is what we need to be. It’s a wonderful picture about growing and maturing. We can be rooted like some kind of tree or plant – perhaps “a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither” (Psalm 1:3). We could be built up like a building, perhaps like “living stones, being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). We could be strengthened “with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (Ephesians 3:16).

And overflowing with thankfulness! This final phrase is like a feast – a generous outworking of the life of Jesus in us. Overflowing with thanks isn’t just saying thank you when you’re given something, or before meals or as part of a prayer meeting. Overflowing suggests a more extravagant lifestyle, one which is constantly looking to give away the life we have found in Jesus. And if we are continually rooted, built up and strengthened by Jesus himself, we’re not going to run out of resources for thankfulness.

It can seem like a big ask until we remember the abundant goodness of God, as Psalm 118:1 reminds us: ^“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures for ever.” His goodness is complete and eternal, giving us endless reasons to thank and praise him.

What might overflowing thankfulness look like? If you met someone described as ”overflowing with thankfulness” what might you expect them to be like?

Share this with your family

Let’s have fun making something overflow in a tough spot, big tray or trug or the bath! Read Psalm 118:1 together and chat about what we think it could look like to be overflowing in thankfulness. Then make a plan of something we can do to express this kind of thankfulness. It might be making something to give to someone to thank them for something, or attempting to write a list of ‘ten thousand reasons’ to thank God.