Transformed and grateful
And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:15-17
When a child of God remembers what he or she has in Christ, heart is filled with praise. We read about this time and again from His word. When Isaiah was before the Lord and realizes the forgiveness he receives from God, all he could do is to say to God, “I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies” (Isaiah 6:5). Not only you receive forgiveness that brings peace in your hearts, but as the Psalmist said, “Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms. Our God is a God who saves! The Sovereign Lord rescues us from death” (Psalm 68:19-20). How else are we going to respond when we know that this is what God does for us? As Paul said in the text, all we could do is to “Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts” (Colossians 3:16). Once we were separated from God because of sin and now that we have trusted Him, His peace rules our hearts. All the more we expressed our gratefulness to Him. Part of being grateful is to let “the message about Christ in all its richness” fill our lives. If we are to be transformed into the character of Christ, His word should find home in our hearts. It is not something that should come and go or only when we feel like reading it. When God’s word finds its place in our hearts we can’t help but admonish others and life will be filled with thankful worship. The transformed life will always seek out to honor Christ for we are “a representative of the Lord Jesus.” Show that you are indeed grateful by living your life for His glory. “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17 NASB).
Blessings,
Noel De Guzman
www.my-wbc.com
