Wednesday’s Gratitude

…firmly rooted
…being built up in Him
…established in your faith
…overflowing with gratitude.(from Col. 2.7)

I am grateful today for the Word of God. It’s alive. As I read and reflect on it each day it finds its mark in my heart. It teaches, encourages, challenges, rebukes, fortifies,corrects and urges me on in the faith (there’s more – shall I keep going?) Mart DeHaan wrote along these lines recently [his article here] and as always, his thoughts are thought provoking and encouraging.

I’m thankful for the Holy Spirit’s teaching ministry in the life of the believer, accompanying the written Word. In his column, DeHaan points out that for centuries man relied on the public reading of Scripture and the Spirit’s part in bringing those things to mind as life progressed. I’m thankful the same Comforter and Teacher who ministered to their needs serves the believing community today. (I could SO launch into something here about preoccupation with mortal methods and the resulting distractions and mediocrity in today’s over-stimulated church, but that would ruin my post on gratitude – so never-mind.)

I’m grateful for shelter and safety. As a kid my younger sisters would sometimes comment “Oh those poor cows” as we drove by (today’s spring snowstorm/blizzard reminded me of it). “You’re a people,” I’d remind them, “Good grief.” I think if that happened today I’d say “Aren’t you glad you’re a human and can come indoors?”

I’m grateful for the ability to see the full spectrum of color. A few of my friends live in gray-scale worlds, thanks to color blindness. Sometimes I try to imagine how it looks but I know I fall short of their reality. But it does make me more appreciative of words like color, hue, tint, etc. What variety we’re blessed with!

I’m especially grateful for God’s creative use of color in His redemptive plan. Who but a loving, just God, would take *the darkness of perverse living (Proverbs 2.13-14) *the filthiness of our own righteous deeds (Isaiah 64.6) *the crimson, scarlet red of our sin (Isaiah 1.18) – and I doubt it’s colorfast…Cover them with the deep red of His own blood, shed for us at Calvary(Isaiah 1.18, Romans 5.9, Ephesians 1.7-8a) and turn them white. Pure white. White as wool. (Isaiah 1.18) White as snow.A FOOT of it! (maybe this spring storm is serving a purpose after all, hmm?) As white as the angel’s uniform when he told the women at the tomb, “Don’t be afraid … He is risen just as He said” THAT white! (Matt 28.1-8)