Today’s Scripture: Colossians 3:17, NIV- “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Saying we are doing it “all” for Jesus can scare us into wondering if we really have what it takes to give Him our all. Paul and Timothy wrote Colossians to address false teachings that were distracting the church in Colossae. Some church leaders were leading this early church astray by adding man-made rules. Let us not add our own doubts and rules but instead trust that Christ is all we need.
Colossians 1:3-4 states that “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people.” We know it is hard to have love for all God’s people. We also know we are not easy to love either.
How in this world are we to love and live like Jesus? Colossians 1:9 instructs us to continually ask God to fill us with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. We experience the love of Jesus by “giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light.” (Colossians 1:12, NIV)
We can tell whether or not the lights are on when we are speaking with someone, can’t we? Others see this in us as well. Colossians 1:13 promises us “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” (NKJV) Jesus gave His all for us so that we could give Him and anyone we meet His all. A dear friend of mine used to say to me, “Wherever you are, be there.” Let us not be distractions but be refractions of Jesus’ light. These are the little moments in time that make the largest differences in the lives of others.
Colossians 1:15-16 tells us that Jesus is the image of an invisible God and in Him all things were created through Him and for Him. We may be the only image of Jesus that the person we are encountering will have today. Colossians 1:19-20 states “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.” (BSB) We too can be well pleased to know that the fullness of Jesus is dwelling in us.
As Colossians 1:17 promises, God chose to make known among us Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in us. We can pause now to thank Christ for being in us and ask that His light shine through us. Colossians 2:3 tells us that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All of Jesus is hidden in us so we can live our lives in Him. Colossians 2:7 reminds us to be overflowing with thankfulness. We have no need to be intimidated at all because all the time Christ is in us all.
As Paul and Timothy wrote in Colossians 4:3 “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.” (NIV) If God has opened the door for us to have a moment with someone let us pray that the mystery of Christ will shine through us all the time.
Today’s Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for our Lord Jesus Christ who is in all of us. Keep us in Your Spirit so that we live our lives present with Jesus. Help us to share the mystery of Christ that is within us and for which we are all bound and connected. In the Spirit of Jesus Christ we do pray. Amen.
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