Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV)
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified youb to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption,c the forgiveness of sins.
It seems silly to me to go forth and add "numbers" to the kingdom with no thought given to the spiritual development of all those baby Christians. And in this passage Paul models the type of behavior that we, as Christians, ought to have towards all those who profess their belief in Jesus.
Note that the first thing Paul does is resort to the power of prayer. His prayer is targeted towards developing the most important aspects of a developing relationship with God. His initial request is one for knowledge (discernment) of God's will. He prays that this be developed through a filling of spiritual wisdom and understanding. To me, this reflects upon something else Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2 wherein he charged the believer to "no longer conform to the patterns of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind" that in this way the believer would "be able to test and approve" God's will. This ability, to discern God's will, is a critical component for an effective life in Christ.
Paul then prays that the new believer would "live a life worthy of the Lord". This doesn't mean that we lead a life that is without sin so as to be found suitable for the presence of the Lord. Rather it means that we are to change our priorities in recognition of the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ which brought us to this point of understanding. If we understand the sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf, we ought to be filled with an overwhelming desire to live up to that sacrifice.
In this verse, Paul charges through prayer that the believer live to "please him in every way." Recently, a friend of mine shared with me his new understanding that he is to live to 'please God, not appease God.' I found this to be a profound thought and one worthy of our consideration. Afterall, we 'appease' out of fear but we 'please' out of love. Thus, as a token of the great love that we hold for God, we should examine every aspect of our lives; feed and nurture those aspects that please the Lord and starve to death every aspect that displeases Him.
The manifestation of this is demonstrated in the fruit we bear in his name. I do not believe this is measured by the number of people we 'lead to the Lord' but rather in the number of people to whom we show God's love. Though the number of people we may have the privilege to lead in "the sinner's prayer" may be quite small, the number we can love is limitless. The Lord God is "abounding in love" and our lives should be able to be described in the same way.
The natural progression of leading a life pleasing to God and bearing fruit in every good work, is that the believer will continue to grow in relationship with God. The deeper this relationship goes, the better we, as disciples, come to know God. And as we come into an ever-increasing knowledge of God, the more we know, the more we are strengthened. The better we are able to make sound decisions and so long as we rely on this strength, that which comes from The Lord and not from our selves, we become patient and long-suffering, able to endure the endless trials and tribulations of this present life. One aspect of this strengthening, one thing that gives us the ability to sustain our faith in the face of adversity, is the hope we have in the inheritance which awaits us as children of God. Though we have received but a portion of it now, as reflected in the new life we lead, we give thanks for what we have received and for what is yet to come. We can give thanks in advance because, as Paul writes, the Father "has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." What a beautiful picture that presents in my mind! What hope to be multiplied in the sharing.
All these things are possible and available to the believer who has been rescued by God. We have been snatched, lovingly, from the "dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son [God] loves." It is by His sacrifice that we have been redeemed, our sins 'sent away' from us that we may be brothers and sisters of and in Christ.
Nourished by this understanding and claiming this prayer of Paul for myself I go into the marketplace now and in a couple of days I go into a distant land. I will seek every opportunity to live up to Christ's sacrifice and to seek out every chance to be flesh and bone to the love of God in the sight of all men.
In His Grip,
Carl
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1 comment:
What you said here has immense implications for our lives as Chrsitians ...
You wrote on this date, "The natural progression of leading a life pleasing to God and bearing fruit in every good work, is that the believer will continue to grow in relationship with God."
And you are so right, Carl, as the fruit in our life bears witness to our abiding relationship with Christ, we become those lights in the darkness who glorify God (see Matt. 5: 16).
May you go shine God's light in Guatemala, my brother! ... <'BB><
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