Chronological Bible Blog

Colossians 1:24-4:18
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I love Paul’s teaching about the Christian life in Colossians chapter 1 verse 27 today! “For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in his glory.”  Were you aware of this secret?  Does Christ live in you?  Have you accepted Jesus into your life and your heart as your Lord and Savior so that he has your permission – your submission – for Him to live within you?  Do you want Jesus to live in you?  Do you have assurance that you will share in Jesus’ glory for eternity?

Paul’s teachings in Colossians chapter 2 verses 6 & 7 definitely stood out to me today: “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.”  I absolutely love the thought of letting our roots grow down into Jesus and draw up nourishment from Jesus!  Meditate on this thought for a while…  I honestly haven’t really ever thought about “having roots in Jesus.”  I mean, I certainly know Jesus is my Lord and Savior.  I know Jesus lives within me. And I know the whole Chapter of John 15 about the vine & the branches has gotten me in the past to think about truly being attached to Jesus.  But something about these verses from Paul about letting our roots grow down into Jesus really is profound for me today…  How deep are your roots in Jesus today?  Is there room for growth in your roots?  Let us grow!  And let us overflow with thankfulness!

Bible.org’s commentary on today’s readings in Colossians titled “The Propagation of Christ’s Work” is at this link.

Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 is a teaching from Paul that reminds me so much of our modern world today… “Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ.”  Have you ever heard anyone in our world today offer you empty philosophy or high-sounding nonsense?  I know I have…  And perhaps I’ve even preached it on occasion in my past too.  Scary stuff.  There is stuff out there today that does indeed come from human thinking – not divine thinking – and from the evil powers of this world – not from Christ.  I think we need to prayerfully be so vigilant to protect ourselves from these empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense.  I almost hesitate to write this… but I am feeling like I should.  I think we need to even watch out for empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense in some churches today too.  I really don’t mean to be divisive to the body of Christ, the church, by saying this.  But I say this for our own good – for brothers and sisters in Christ.  One thing that I have seen in churches on occasion that has alarmed me is what I’ll call “the cult of personality” around a pastor.  Meaning, I think it can reach a point in a church where there is an unhealthy fixation on a pastor or minister.  Don’t get me wrong.  We’ll all probably have a favorite pastor or minister or priest.  But let us be cautious if ever our devotion to a pastor surpasses (or gets anywhere near) our devotion to Jesus.  It’s then when the “cult of personality” can lead to empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense invading our hearts and minds.  Maybe there is someone out there that needs to hear this…  Just pray about it to Jesus if ever you feel that you are paying more attention to a pastor / priest / anybody than you are paying to Jesus.  And ask Jesus what he would have you do.  Perhaps it would be to move on to another church… A church where Jesus is clearly preached, worshiped, and followed.  Trust me, there are multitudes of churches out there where Jesus and his work on the cross for your sins is preached.  Make sure Christ and Him crucified is preached clearly at your church!

I absolutely love the imagery Paul uses in verse 11 today: “When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure–the cutting away of your sinful nature.” The cutting away of your sinful nature!  Isn’t that profound to think about?  It almost makes me feel 100 pounds lighter spiritually just thinking about it…  Our old sinful nature was an old beast of a thing that bogged us down.  Makes us slow.  Makes us groggy.  Keeps us foggy.  But – Jesus can take the scissors of spiritual circumcision and cut away that old sinful nature!  Doesn’t this make you feel 100 pounds lighter to think about this?  Doesn’t this thought of cutting away the sinful nature make you want to never want to put on that old musty moldy deadly suit of sin ever again?  Let us be free instead!  Has Jesus circumcised you spiritually?  Has Jesus cut away your sinful nature once and for all?  This all makes me think about butterfly coming out of its cocoon about to take flight…  Let us fly!

Colossians 3 verse 4 is so powerful and is really something each of us should reflect upon: "And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory."  Here is the thing that really stops me in my tracks when reading this verse:  "Christ, who is your life."  Those are 5 incredibly powerful words when put together!  And I’m afraid that sometimes we don’t really live our lives as if Jesus is indeed our life.  He is!  Or he should be…  Here’s the thing.  I’ve had a lot of conversations over the years with fellow Christians about who Jesus is to them.  And I’ve thought a lot about who Jesus is to me.  And I think many of us can easily get to the point of saying, "well, yes, Jesus is my Savior."  We can acknowledge that He died on the cross for our sins.  He saved us.  We’re into salvation!  But, I think sometimes it can get a bit fuzzier for us when we think about Jesus being our Lord – in addition to Jesus being our Savior.  Meaning, if Jesus is our Lord, then we really need to take incredibly seriously and to heart Jesus’ words and teachings in the Bible!  And really allow Jesus to lead our lives.  Transform our lives.  Lord our lives.  Well, I think this Colossians verse takes things even a step further.  Maybe we’re at the point where yes, Jesus is our Lord and Savior.  But now, Paul here teaches us that Jesus is our very life!  That’s big…  That’s saying our life = Jesus.  Jesus = our life.  If you really stop to think about this and allow this into your heart you’ll know how huge this is.  Jesus is our life….  wow!  That’s very good news!  Our job isn’t our life.  Our money isn’t our life.  Our health isn’t our life.  Even our family isn’t our life – those these can all be good gifts.  But none of these things are our life.  Jesus is our life!  Today, can you honestly say Jesus is your life?  If not, will you begin to really think about this and pray about this?  Is Jesus your life?

Verses 12 through 14 of Colossians chapter 3 are awesome!  “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” How are you doing on each of these virtues in your life today – Compassion?  Kindness?  Humility?  Gentleness?  Patience?  Forgiveness?  Love?  Do you think you can do each of these well using just your own will power? Or, do regularly pray to Jesus to give you these virtues within your heart and to bring them to fruition in your life? Can you allow love to lead within you? Will you allow Jesus to lead you?

Colossians 4:6 today is fantastic: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”  Let your conversation be always full of grace. How often is this true for us? Are there times when our conversation is un-graceful? Judgmental perhaps? Angry? Curt? But Grace… that’s something to strive for in all of our conversations!  If we are grace-full in our conversations, where does that Grace come from?

Worship God: Today’s readings in Colossians reminded me of the Jeremy Camp song “Jesus Saves.” Here is a great video KLOVE radio and its listeners put together, with signs sharing what Jesus saved them from. What has Jesus saved you from?

Has Jesus Saved you?  Click to be Saved!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. “ Colossians 1:27 NIV

Comments from You:  What verses or insights stand out to you in today’s readings?  Please post up by clicking on the “Comments” link below!

God bless,
Mike

p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our Chronological Bible readings at this link.

p.p.s. Download a schedule of our Chronological Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link.

p.p.p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Chronological Bible Blog ministry today. Thanks!