Daily Devotion, November 18, 2020

 

Devotion: Read Colossians 2:6-7.

With a little more than a week until Thanksgiving Day, we might be thinking about the foods we will eat and/or the parades and ballgames we will watch. We might be planning some activities for our children. We might be making travel plans. Perhaps we need to step back, pause and ponder all for which we are grateful.

In his letter to the church at Colossae, Paul describes a beautiful picture of a life lived in Christ, “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” 

When I think of “overflowing”, I think of waterfalls. The water “flows over” the edges of the mountains and hillsides. As I observe waterfalls, there is so much water that I think it will eventually run-out, but the overflow continues and never stops!!!

The World Waterfalls Database lists Inga Falls, an area of rapids on the Congo River, as the waterfall with the largest volume. More than 11 million gallons (46 million liters) of water flow through Inga Falls each second. And 160 tons of water flow over Niagara Falls every second. This accounts for 75,750 gallons of water per second over the American and Bridal Veil Falls and 681,750 gallons per second over the Horseshoe Falls!!! That’s more water “flowing-over” than we can begin to imagine! God is not limited and overflows with grace!

What does a life lived overflowing with gratitude look like? Several years ago, we visited Anna Ruby Falls in Helen, GA. More than 3546 gallons of water a minute, which is 5,106,240 gallons in a day, flow over the waterfalls! Anna Ruby Falls feeds Smith Creek which tumbles downhill to Unicoi Lake and then to the Chattahoochee River. Its journey continues south, eventually joining the Apalachicola River in Florida and ending its 550-mile journey in the Gulf of Mexico….giving nourishment at every turn! Personal Worship Option: Being rooted in Christ, we receive nourishment. We receive strength from those who have taught us. And the overflowing of our thanksgiving gives nourishment to all others along our journeys of life. Throughout our lives we are ever mindful for all we have received and live lives overflowing with thanksgiving to God through our prayers and worship and service to others. To whom will the overflowing of your thanksgiving tumble to today?