The Established Path of Discipleship

As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (Col. 2:6-7).

Gratitude is such a pleasant word. It feels good to say it. Gratitude can also be an intimidating word, especially if you are not feeling grateful when you should be grateful. I remember the mini-lectures my Mom would give me when I complained about what we were having for supper. “You should be more thankful. There are starving children in the world who would love to have this food!” I attribute this childhood ingratitude to age and immaturity, but what about my adult ingratitude? Why is “abounding in thanksgiving” (Col. 2:7) so difficult?

The difficulty lies in misunderstanding where gratitude comes from. Gratitude is an emotion, and as an emotion, it cannot be commanded at will. You cannot make yourself feel anything. You cultivate godly emotions like you tend to a garden. Gratitude comes through a process the Apostle Paul prescribes in Colossians 2:6-7.  This process is the established path of discipleship. So, what is one way we can tell if we are making progress on this established path? As we follow this established path, “just as you were taught,” Paul says, what follows next is “abounding in thanksgiving.”

Abounding in Thanksgiving?

Gratitude is a flower that grows best in the ground of contentment—ground softened by the plow of our heavenly Father. Contentment is not something I can cover in a short paragraph, so I encourage you to devote ample time to studying contentment.^[1] Suffice it to say that contentment is the ground that gratitude grows upon. God’s providence gives us fertile soil that produces the flower of gratitude. As we quietly yield to God’s providence, the process of cultivating thanksgiving begins. We plant seeds of thanksgiving as we are rooted in Christ. We water these seeds as we are built up in Christ and see flowers blossom as we are established in the faith. The Holy Spirit superintends the process of cultivation. Without him, nothing grows. He provides the power to cultivate and grow. Springing up from this spiritual farming is a beautiful field of flowers proclaiming the glory of God. This is what it means to abound in thanksgiving

     [1] I recommend The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by the English Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs and The Power of Christian Contentment by Andrew M. Davis.