Being Watchful and Thankful

I felt like reading from the end of Paul's letter to the church in Colossae.  As I was reading his closing remarks, a couple things he wrote caused me to take pause.  Here are the verses - Colossians 4:2-6 NIV:

[2] "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. [3] And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. [4] Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. [5] Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. [6] Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

First, his encouragement to be watchful and thankful.  This doesn't sound too strange, but in our modern day language, I think the more common expression would be to be watchful and careful.  It struck me that Paul might be addressing an underlying mindset, of gratitude for all things, even difficult things. I recently was watching a Bill Johnson sermon on difficult seasons ( https://youtu.be/CSLKnRYaPQI) and he was talking about the fact that there are some things you only learn about God when you walk through "the valley of the shadow of death" (Ps 23:4).  He wasn't advocating difficult seasons, but was saying that by keeping His heart and mind fixed on the Lord in the midst of this difficult season, he was able to grow in his relationship and faith.

Secondly, another perspective about the watchful and thankful encouragement might be that Paul is urging the people to be constantly on the lookout for those God arranged meetings, those divine encounters.  He does finish that paragraph speaking about how we act towards outsiders, making the most of every opportunity, and maybe this directive is pointing at that thought.

My mind immediately goes to an idea that this is related to sharing my faith. I tend to be somewhat fearful of opportunities to share the Lord with those outside of church.  It is mostly due to my fear of man, and fear of rejection.  How different would my response be if I prayed for a thankful heart and thankful perspective in these instances, that instead of meeting the situation with fear, I meet it with a heart of gratitude that God has entrusted some small influence in the other person's life to me?  Maybe my mind would change from a "I have to", to more of a "I get to" share.

Here is another radical thought, maybe I can just focus on loving the person I meet, and make that my goal, rather than being all worried about sharing my faith.  Not that I shy away from sharing my faith, but focusing instead on the primary command of the Lord to love one another (John 13:34).  It is my experience that if I am empathetic, if I am compassionate and willing to care for, encourage and help someone, they are almost always grateful!  I can allow my kindness and personal interest in them speak of their value and worth to me, and to the Lord!  I can determine to let my conversation be full of grace, and ready to share my love and my relationship with God, if asked or the opportunity presents itself.  If I take my focus off of having to share, and instead look at the opportunity of loving someone who needs to know they are loved and lovely, then I find that I can embrace the opportunity with thankfulness!

Lord, I am encouraged this morning to be prayerful, watchful and thankful for opportunities to love, opportunities to be kind, opportunities to extend mercy and grace.  Thank You Lord that You have decided that I am trustworthy of extending Your love and mercy to others.

Amen!