May 24 - Colossians 1:10-12
“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, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
Paul is nothing if not practical. He and his team are praying for the Colossians and they have a goal. They’re prayers are that the people they have brought to Jesus will live lives worthy of the Lord and will please him in every way.
I doubt that many (if any) of us can say our lives consistently please the Lord … aw heck, we just plain screw up a lot of the time. Anything else would be a lie. But, look at how Paul phrases all of this. He doesn’t talk about these things as if they are a done deal … these are continuing processes. We are a continuing process.
We haven’t born fruit in every good work so that we can look back on it and be proud, we are bearing fruit … we are still in the process of bearing fruit.
We haven’t got all the knowledge of God; we are growing in this knowledge.
We aren’t strong with all power, we are constantly being strengthened.
All of these things are happening as we grow in our relationship with Jesus.
Graduations are happening a lot right now – at many different levels. But, I’m willing to bet that there is no parent out there who believes their child has accomplished everything that they ever will accomplish. However, parents everywhere are pleased with their children as they strive for goals that have been set before them.
Until the day we die, we are constantly striving for perfection and holiness, to be like Jesus, to grow into His likeness. But, we aren’t perfect, we aren’t holy, we will never finish the tasks set before us. We can’t sit down and feel that we have accomplished all God has called us to do. We can’t be satisfied with our lives. We are not finished and neither is God.
Paul is praying for the Colossians (and for us) to live lives that are worthy of the Lord – not worthy of ourselves or of the people around us.
One day, we will share with other Christians the inheritance that God calls us to, but remember – even though we are constantly working towards perfection and holiness – those things aren’t going to get us to heaven. We can’t work hard enough to get us to heaven … that work has already been done.
Paul says it again – the Father is the one who has qualified us to share in the inheritance. It is His deal, all we have to do is accept it.
“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, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
Paul is nothing if not practical. He and his team are praying for the Colossians and they have a goal. They’re prayers are that the people they have brought to Jesus will live lives worthy of the Lord and will please him in every way.
I doubt that many (if any) of us can say our lives consistently please the Lord … aw heck, we just plain screw up a lot of the time. Anything else would be a lie. But, look at how Paul phrases all of this. He doesn’t talk about these things as if they are a done deal … these are continuing processes. We are a continuing process.
We haven’t born fruit in every good work so that we can look back on it and be proud, we are bearing fruit … we are still in the process of bearing fruit.
We haven’t got all the knowledge of God; we are growing in this knowledge.
We aren’t strong with all power, we are constantly being strengthened.
All of these things are happening as we grow in our relationship with Jesus.
Graduations are happening a lot right now – at many different levels. But, I’m willing to bet that there is no parent out there who believes their child has accomplished everything that they ever will accomplish. However, parents everywhere are pleased with their children as they strive for goals that have been set before them.
Until the day we die, we are constantly striving for perfection and holiness, to be like Jesus, to grow into His likeness. But, we aren’t perfect, we aren’t holy, we will never finish the tasks set before us. We can’t sit down and feel that we have accomplished all God has called us to do. We can’t be satisfied with our lives. We are not finished and neither is God.
Paul is praying for the Colossians (and for us) to live lives that are worthy of the Lord – not worthy of ourselves or of the people around us.
One day, we will share with other Christians the inheritance that God calls us to, but remember – even though we are constantly working towards perfection and holiness – those things aren’t going to get us to heaven. We can’t work hard enough to get us to heaven … that work has already been done.
Paul says it again – the Father is the one who has qualified us to share in the inheritance. It is His deal, all we have to do is accept it.
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1 comments:
Thank goodness he isn't finished with me yet! I am a Work In Progress that is fo sho! Thanks for the reminder that it's okay...I forget that sometimes! xoxoxo
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