Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Colossians 3:12-15
As we come into this season of Thanksgiving, I think it is important to remember why we should be thankful and just how important it is to be thankful. Beyond the family and friends and turkey and stuffing, we really do need to be thankful, both at this time of year and all of the other times as well.
This passage is about what we, as Christians, are supposed to “put on.” Just as we would put on a change of clothes in the morning, there are certain things that the Lord would have us “put on.” Among the things mentioned here are mercy, kindness, meekness, longsuffering, forgiveness, charity, peace, and thankfulness. Thankfulness is mentioned toward the end of the passage, at the end of verse 15: “…and be ye thankful.”
“…and be ye thankful.” It’s just a short and simple statement, but a powerful one. It’s a very simple command. Be ye thankful. To borrow a phrase from Nike, “just do it.” A Christian is commanded to “be ye thankful.” We can look at other simple commands such as “thou shalt not kill” and have no problem understanding and obeying it. But sometimes “be ye thankful” gives us problems.
Are we really thankful today? Are we obeying this very simple command? It couldn’t be worded any simpler. Are we thankful?
Justified Freely 