The Key

This past Sunday, I shared that there was a “key” revealed in our Scripture, in the book of Colossians, that opened the way into a transformed heart. If you’re thinking through or praying about being more and more of Christ’s person, then this one element opens the doorway for that to happen. In Chapter 3:15-17, we have this one aspect of a relationship with God repeated 3 times. All the back in college, one of my professors offhandedly said, “Always pay attention to things that are repeated 3X in the Bible. It’s in these verses that Paul says, “be thankful,” sing “with gratitude in your hearts,” and “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Gratitude is the key. Paul says in Philippians, it’s the way into peace, that sense of completeness that grows in a transformed heart. (Philippians 4:4-7) It’s the means by which we move out of anxiety. It draws us closer to God, makes the presence of God clearer, makes our dependence on God surer, and makes the work and the promises of God in our lives the atmosphere we breathe. Wake and say thanks. Eat and say thanks. Walk, talk, visit, see, listen, and say thanks. Get into bed and say thanks. Start your requests to God by saying thanks. Take the time each day for a week to write down three things for which you are thankful. Turn the key. Blessings, Geoff