Scripture: Colossians 4:2-18   Commentary

Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis (Colossians 4:12, 13, NLT).

Observation:

Paul is not alone in teaching, exhorting, and encouraging the Colossians. Epaphras, their own minister who shared the Good News with them (Colossians 1:7), now prays earnestly (Greek agónizomai “to contend for a prize”) for their maturity. Epaphras wants great things for the Colossians—strength, perfection, and confidence in following the whole will of God. Not only does he pray for the Colossians but for other believers in nearby cities.

Application:

Paul concludes Colossians with this directive. “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart” (Colossians 4:2, NLT). His own evangelistic work depended on the believers’ praying for him (v.3), especially their remembering his chains in prayers (v.3, 18). I need to follow Epaphras’s example and devote myself to praying for other believers’ spiritual well-being. I need to be “alert” to their needs and thankful for the privilege of contending for them in prayer.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for the believers who surround me in a community of faith. Make me alert to their needs. Remind me of their chains. Give them strength to endure their circumstances and to resist temptation. Perfect their faith. Lead them by your Spirit to follow your will, confident in their faith in your Son. In whose name I pray, Amen.

Scripture:   Colossians 3:12-4:1   Commentary

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12, NLT).

Observation:

Much like a team uniform, love is the clothing by which the holy people of God are recognized (v.12, 17). The love itself comes from Christ when we allow his message of complete forgiveness of all our own sins to fill us (v. 16). Only then can we “make allowance for each other’s faults” (v.13). Christ’s love for us infuses each of our relationships: believer and believer, husband and wife, parents and children, owner and employee, and believer and unbeliever. No situation, relationship, or circumstance is immune from our “tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (v.12).

Application:

How I think of others, what I say to and about others, and what I choose to do or not do for others are of great concern to the Father. These behaviors, both internal and external, are the proving grounds of my faith (John 13:35). In essence, loving others in thought, word, and deed is the work to which Christ has called me.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for loving me and forgiving me of my sins. May the love of your Son permeate every thought I have and every word I say. Guide me through your Spirit to loving actions, and warn me away from those which would do harm. Keep me from the temptation of steering my own selfish way. Mold me to be a holy, thankful, loving representative your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. In whose name I pray, Amen.

Scripture: Colossians 3:1-11   Commentary

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth” (Colossians 3:1,2, NLT).

Observation:

Having a new life entails having a new perspective. All of our being must belong to Christ, not just our spirit. Therefore, we keep our intellect focused on Christ, the true Reality. We slay the mind-corrupting sins of lying, anger, rage, malice, slander, and dirty language (v.8, 9). We rein in our physical bodies and put to death body-corrupting sins of sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed (v.5, 6). Our own efforts are inadequate to the task (Colossians 2:23). We must be renewed by Christ as we grow in knowledge of our Creator. Knowledge of him transform us body, mind, and spirit.

Application:

An old saying describes someone as being “so heavenly minded he’s no earthly good.” Yet these verses stand in direct challenge. If I am not heavenly minded, I have no good at all. There is only one Reality and that is Christ. No human ideas, approaches, or life goals—as sensible and reasonable as they may seem to me—can measure up to the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). If I lose sight of the heavenly Reality, then I have no share in Christ’s glory when at last his truth is revealed.

Prayer:

Father, keep my sights firmly fixed on your Son. Grant me your grace to walk in his way. Open my eyes to the leading of your Spirit. Cleanse me from my sin. Grow me in knowledge of you. Renew me so that I may be whole body, mind, and spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Scripture:   Colossians 2:16-23     Commentary

For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. (Colossians 2:17, NLT).

Observation:

In pursuit of living a life worthy of their calling in Christ, the Gentile believers at Colossae were experiencing information overload. The Jewish believers had ideas to share from their long history and traditions. The Gentiles themselves were acquainted with philosophies that seemed useful. So when fellow worshippers suggest approaches which seem “wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline” (v.23), how is a believer to discern what is truly of God?

Application:

I need to remember that I am not, but Christ, the only reality (v.17), is in charge of my transformation. In his great love, he has already resurrected me to a new life. The gift came about because of his work, not mine. Pursuing Christ himself is what pleases him and brings me more in communion with him and his body—not a method or methodology. When I love him and love others, I remain in him and he calls me “friend” (John 15:9-17).

Prayer:

Father, thank you for transforming me. Guide me through this life by your Spirit to love your Son and share his love with others. Keep me from being distracted from true Reality by human ideas. Give me grace to see and to walk in the Way of your Son. In whose name I pray, Amen.