Colossians 1:12 - Gratitude now!

"...giving thanks to the Father the (One) having qualified us unto the part of the inheritance of the saints in the light."

-A life and a heart of unspeakable joy and overflowing gratitude to our heavenly Father, the One Who made us and saved us - as we saw in v. 3 - this is the essence of worship, and this is the goal, the great purpose for which we were made and born and born again.  Which is why we find ingratitude at the headwaters of so much waywardness.  Failure to give thanks is where people first go wrong (Rom 1.21), but when they have been truly made right with God, we see that they cannot not give thanks.  They can’t keep quiet.  In fact, what we see throughout Scripture is that all of creation is part of a great and growing chorus of irrepressible praise and thanksgiving to the One Who not only made it but Who is rescuing it and making it right once and for all (Ps 69.34, 148.1-13, Is 44.23, 55.12, Lk 19.37-40, Rom 8.19-21, cf Rev 4.9-11, 5.11-14, 7.9-12, 11.15-18, 19.1-7).  The only ones who do not join in are those who live in rebellion against their Maker.  But one day... every knee will bow.

-For now, for those who do join in, Paul gives us here one reason why there is such thanksgiving.  It is tied to that rescue mission, to what the Father has done in rescuing us former rebels who have now trusted in His Son and qualifying us to share His inheritance.  Think about that - the possibility of coming into a share of the inheritance of the wealthiest, most powerful Being not just on the planet but in the entire universe.  Imagine being named as an heir by someone like Warren Buffet or Bill Gates and suddenly coming into more wealth than you could have ever imagined.  Which of course would never fill the infinite abyss in my heart, but the point here is that these erstwhile rebels now saints in light who are named as heirs of the glorious King of the universe come into an inheritance which is incomprehensible, incomparably and ineffably greater than any earthly bequest.  The inheritance of the saints in light - these ones who have been made holy by the One Who alone is sublimely holy - is not only a share in His holiness and all that comes with it but it is, in fact, the Holy One Himself.  We.  Get.  Him.  He is the Pearl of great price.  We are His and He is ours.  Great day in the morning - think about that!  We get the One Who brought light out of darkness, out of nothing, with a word and created the light of a billion trillion stars, the One Who is our Light and Salvation, the One Who is the Light of the world and in Whom is the Light of men, the One Whose blazing glory will one day illuminate the entirety of heaven such that there will be no night and no need for lamps or even the sun.  What a day, an unending day of rejoicing - and gratitude - that will be...!  And in fact it is already cranking up... Thanks be to God!