October 15, 2022 FIRMLY ROOTED
Colossians 2:5-7: “For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
If there are two things needed today in the body of believers, it is good discipline, and stability of our faith. It seems that as a whole, in the Christian community today, there is a shallowness, evidenced by and a lack of discipline and stability in our faith. For whatever the reason, we are rather easily discouraged, and tend to be lacking in ‘good discipline.’ We live in times that are difficult in many ways; our society faces numerous challenges and problems-it would take the rest of the page to list them-you know what they are. And, I dare say that everyone reading this has in some way been touched by the difficulties and brokenness we face today. However, the believers who lived during the time these scriptures were written suffered in ways we can’t even imagine. Believers were routinely persecuted by the government and by the religious leaders because of their faith in Christ; many were imprisoned and many were tortured and put to death. In the midst of such suffering, Paul said that he rejoiced to see their good discipline and the stability of their faith. In our “Christianity” it is paramount that we, just like those believers of the past, adopt as a life style, good discipline and a stable faith, no matter what our circumstances may be from day-to-day. By receiving Jesus as Lord, He is to become our life and we are to be built upon Him, walking in His ways. If our life is rooted in anything other than the Lord Himself, our roots will not hold when difficulties come our way, and we will not be properly nourished. We are not left to do ‘the best we can’ and figure things on our own; the scriptures give us instruction concerning how we are to live. We become ‘firmly rooted’ as we read and study the scriptures with the desire to increase in the knowledge of God, and as we apply or act on what we learn from the scriptures. The all-important question for each of us is whether or not we know Jesus as our Lord and are we walking in His ways. Don’t be distracted by the temporal world, but be focused on what is eternal; seek His kingdom first.
1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, My beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed