Paul the apostle wrote to
the church in Colosse to address the infiltration of two false
doctrines which had crept into the church. The Gnostics who denied
the deity of Jesus Christ and the Judaisers who promoted works along
with faith for salvation were beginning to influence the believers in
Jesus Christ in Colosse, and Paul set out to correct them. He began
his letter to them by commending them for their “faith in
Christ Jesus”, their “love to all the saints”, and
“hope which is laid up in heaven for you”, and he spoke
well of their pastor “Epaphras” who visited Paul while he was in
a Roman prison awaiting trial and communicated the church's
difficulties. Paul wrote that since he heard the report of Epaphras
he did “not cease to pray” for them, and he desired that
they be “filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding”. As
we continue with Paul's words in chapter one and verse ten, we see
more of Paul's prayer and desire for the church members where we
read:
That you might walk
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good
work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
The
verse begins, “That you might walk worthy of the Lord
unto all pleasing,” As Paul
continued his prayer and desire for the church members, he adds “that
you might walk worthy” which
means “to make one's way, progress; to make due use of
opportunities which are suitable, worthy, in a manner worthy of “
“the Lord unto all pleasing” or “fully pleasing or with
a desire to please” the Lord. In other words, Paul prayed and
desired that the Colossians live their lives in a manner that was
suitable, worthy and fully pleasing unto the Lord.
The verse goes on to say, “being
fruitful in every good work,” In
addition to living their lives worthy and fully pleasing to the Lord,
Paul prayed that the church members of Colosse were “being
fruitful” or “bearing,
bringing forth deeds, and bearing fruit of one's self” “in
every good work”. Everything which was “of good constitution
or nature, useful, salutary, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy,
excellent, distinguished, upright, and honorable” whether it was in
“business, employment, that which they occupied, undertook to do,
enterprise, undertaking, any product whatsoever, or any thing
accomplished by hand, art, industry, mind, act, deed, or thing done”,
Paul prayed and desired that they be “fruitful” or successful in
every area of their lives.
Finally
the verse says, “increasing in the knowledge of God;”
Another quality which Paul
prayed and desired for the Colossians was that they would be
“increasing” or
“growing, augmenting, and becoming greater” “in the
knowledge of God” which refers
to their “precise and correct knowledge” of “the
Godhead, trinity, and that which is spoken of the only and true God”.
Not only were the Colossians to be walking worthy of and fully
pleasing the Lord, “being fruitful in every good work”, but they
were also to be growing in their “knowledge of God” continually.
When we stop to consider the
words of Paul's prayer and desire for the Colossians, we will
understand them to be wonderful words for us to pray as well. We
should all desire to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing and
being fruitful in everything we do, and constantly desiring to
increase in the knowledge of God. Perhaps as we think through these
ideas, we will remember others such as leaders, pastors, and high
ranking officials of whom we should pray these things. Maybe there
are family members, acquaintances or business associates who would
benefit by these beautiful orations as well. We certainly know we
need these words prayed for us, and as we continue to understand
Paul's desire for the Colossians, may his words be as though they
were directed specifically to us as well.
Next
time Paul will write about how the church may be strengthened,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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