Giving Joyful Thanks

…and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:12-14

As Paul closes his prayer for the Colossians, he offers three things to be grateful for. First, for privileges we don't deserve. We have been qualified by God (not ourselves) to share in the inheritance of all God's people. What is this inheritance? A Father's love, a Savior's presence, a family of brothers and sisters to support and uphold, a certain destiny of glory after death. Nothing can take these away from us. If we remember these we can rejoice in the midst of whatever comes. These are privileges we don't deserve for which we have been qualified by God.

Secondly, there are perils from which we have been delivered: He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness. Oh, what that ought to awaken within our minds! Did you ever think where you would be if Christ had not intervened in your life? Knowing my own heart, my own rebellious spirit, I think I'd either be dead or in jail! I almost made it anyhow! But we have all been delivered, as if by one of those SWAT teams that snatch a victim out of a dangerous situation. So the Lord Jesus has rescued us from the dominion of darkness, from increasing uncertainty about life, and from groping after futile goals. He has delivered us from blindness and death.

The third category is pressures from which we have been freed: he has brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. We have been freed from the feeling of being unwanted. That is one of the most devastating feelings any human can experience: the feeling that nobody cares, nobody wants us, nobody loves us. That is forever rendered untrue by the work of Jesus. He has brought us into his kingdom and, with him, we share the love of the Father. We are wanted, cherished children of a loving Father. We have been delivered also from the feeling of being unworthy. We have redemption, even the forgiveness of sins. By natural birth we are all unworthy, but love has set us free, and made us both wanted and worthy. The forgiveness of sins means we can start every day with a fresh, clean slate. All of yesterday's mistakes have been washed away, not in order that we might go back and repeat them, but that we might have nothing against us as we begin again. Every day we start again afresh, until we learn to live aright. The forgiveness of sins is something we ought to rejoice in every day, because the burden and guilt of yesterday is no longer dragging us down. We are free to walk into liberty and peace. How grateful we should be for these incredible blessings!

Dear Heavenly Father, I give thanks to you for all the spiritual blessings I have in Christ. Refresh me again with a knowledge of your great love.