Overflowing

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6-7

Do we ever overflow with thankfulness? Let's think about this for a minute, because I wonder if we really do. Overflowing... that's a lot of thankfulness! Overflow is 'to fill a space to capacity and spread beyond its limits', like filling a bathtub with water and letting it spill over into the bathroom. What would it take to really fill you up with that much thanks?

It seems to me that this verse is saying that this excessive thankfulness is part of living in Christ. I'm just thinking out loud here, but how often do you run into a fellow Christian and get a sense of thankfulness to the extreme? It seems to me that should be a regular character trait according to this verse. That we should walk up to our brother in Christ, ask him how he's doing, and he just starts exploding with thankfulness, telling us how thankful he is, because he can't simply hold it in. Instead, the conversation usually quickly goes sour. We're so quick to share what is wrong- we're so quick to be negative.

The thing is, this overflowing thankfulness is so much like joy- it's contagious. Think about it. It's Thanksgiving week, and our whole country is celebrating with friends and family. And as the gatherings ensue, conversation will undoubtedly steer towards things that are wrong. Jobs, money, family issues, etc. What if we all purposed, instead, to focus on that which we are thankful for? If you started off your Thanksgiving gathering by refusing to discuss the negative, and only talk about the positive, the people you are spending time with would catch that. Guaranteed. And even better, perhaps there will be someone at your gathering who needs to meet Jesus. Your attitude- your thankfulness will go such a long way in showing that someone that loving God is a wonderful thing, and not a burden that weighs you down.

Overflowing thankfulness. I think that is so appropriate! As we're celebrating Thanksgiving this week, we've been talking about celebrating with abundance- abundance is 'of ample quantity' or overflowing provision. It seems to me that overflowing provision and overflowing thankfulness can go hand-in-hand.