… and giving joyful thanks to the Father,
Summary: It is one thing to say we are thankful, and it is another thing altogether to be joyfully thankful. Meditating on the difference helps us to understand what Paul is saying in this passage.
If we look at the Bible through the eyes of the world, we see a dusty old book. When we look at the Bible through the eyes of faith, we see a love letter from our Father.
In that love letter are all the things you might expect. A bit of family history, good advice, and the promise of an inheritance because your Father loves you. Our Father also introduces us to our new friend, his Holy Spirit.
When Adam and Eve first sinned, they were enticed by the promise of eyes that “will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). While the serpent’s words were true, as far as they went, they did not tell the whole story. He promised that we would “know” good and evil. He didn’t promise that we would be able to tell the difference.
The Holy Spirit is our guide in a broken world. He teaches us what is good and what is evil. Sometimes, he teaches us through the Bible. Other times, he teaches us directly, like when our conscience aches because of something we have said or done that wasn’t right.
One of the downsides of learning to know evil from good is realizing how corrupt we have been. We also start to realize that the only good in us comes from God. In the first case, we are filled with pain and remorse. In the second, we find ourselves overflowing with gratitude. It is this sense of gratitude that motivates Paul’s passage for today: “… giving joyful thanks to the Father.”
The balance between remorse and gratitude is critical. Too much remorse leads to despair. Gratitude without remorse leads to a shallow joy that can lead to ignoring the Spirit’s guidance (Matthew 13:4).
The gratitude Paul describes is different.
When believers step into the world of faith in God, we leave behind the world of sin. Unfortunately, until we are released from this body, we are still subject to the pull of corruption. More than pulling on us, the corrupt of the world see Christians as a threat. Persecutions are the result, leaving the Christian a person whose hope is with God but whose body is under attack.
This is where the miraculous power of God comes into play (Colossians 1:11).
It is the miraculous power of God that makes it possible to endure persecution and, at the same time, be grateful, giving “joyful thanks to the Father.”
Application: Do a self-assessment. Are you joyfully thankful or just thankful?
Food for Thought: What is the difference between having a strong opinion about God and a strong faith?
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