The end of Colossians

Well, we will be done with Colossians this week. Do you guys have an idea for what you want to do next? Anything you really want to study? We could do a topical study if there is a specific topic you want to know more about. Let me know what you're thinking.

Live for Today

Colossians 4:1-18

Paul finishes up his comments about relationships with masters being kind and just to their servants. Again, though we don't have servants anymore, we can still apply the principles to those who are under our leadership whether at church, home, or work. Ultimately the Lord is our Master and our sole desire should be to please Him. If we do not treat our brothers and sisters with respect and love and forgiveness then we are like the servant in Matt 18:23-35.

"For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. "When he had begun to settle {them,} one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. "But since he did not have {the means} to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. "So the slave fell {to the ground} and prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.' "And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and {began} to choke {him,} saying, 'Pay back what you owe.' "So his fellow slave fell {to the ground} and {began} to plead with him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.' "But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. "So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. "Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 'Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?' "And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."

In verse 2, Paul calls us to continue in prayer and be watchful with thanksgiving. Prayer is our method of communication to the Lord. We need to make sure that the Lord is our priority. He should be the first one we run to in a crisis or thank in times of joy. We can demonstrate His priority in our lives by making every effort to spend time with Him each day. We can always make time for the things we want to do, but so often we neglect spending time with our Maker! Make the Lord your priority this week!
In verse 3-5 Paul asks for prayer to share the gospel with boldness and wisdom. I think we should all be praying that for each other. We all have unbelievers in our lives that need Jesus! Pray for opportunities and boldness to effectively share the gospel. One thing that we need to remember is that we never know when the last time we will see someone might be. What if it is today? Did they know the gospel? We need to share the gospel with urgency because we don't know what our life will be like tomorrow! This is something the Lord has been impressing upon my soul lately. I have several unbelieving friends at school, and I don't think I've had the urgency or the boldness that I should. Pray for me to have that boldness and for the Lord to soften their hearts cause some of them are quite hard! Here's a challenge from a Mercy Me song. "Live like there's no tomorrow. Love extravagantly." from "Goodbye Ordinary" That is my prayer for each of us.

Verse 6 Paul speaks of having our speech seasoned with grace so that we will properly answer everyone we talk to. I think this can be applied to all our speech. Whether we are speaking to a believer or an unbeliever, we want to make sure that our speech is edifying and not tearing down. I fall short in this area all the time. I like to tease and joke, but sometimes it's too much. "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such {a word} as is good for edification according to the need {of the moment,} so that it will give grace to those who hear." Eph 4:29

The rest of the chapter is Paul's greetings to specific people and instructions for the letter. Here's a little info on some of the people mentioned.
Tychicus was an Asian. He was probably from Ephesus and probably went with Paul as a representative of his church to Jerusalem when they sent their collection. He is also mentioned in Eph 6:21.
Aristarchus was a fellow traveler with Paul and possibly taking turns with Epaphras for voluntary imprisonment with Paul. He is also mentioned in Acts 19:29, 20:4, 27:2, and Philemon 23, 24.
Epaphras was another friend of Paul's. He founded several churches including the church at Colossae. It was his visit that caused Paul to write this letter. He is also mentioned in Col 1:7 and Philemon 23.
Onesimus was a runaway servant that ended up in Rome and somehow found Paul. Paul soon taught him about the Lord and he became a believer. Now, Paul was sending him back to his owner, Philemon. Paul's instructions to Philemon are found in the tiny book of Philemon.

I want to end with a quote I found on my friend's blog. I thought it was a good reminder for us.

God never places us in any position in which we can not grow. We may fancy that He does. We may fear we are so impeded by fretting, petty cares that we are gaining nothing; but when we are not sending any branches upward, we may be sending roots downward. Perhaps in the time of our humiliation, when everything seems a failure, we are making the best kind of progress.
~Elizabeth Prentiss~

Elizabeth Prentiss is the one who wrote the book I gave you for Christmas, Stepping Heavenward.)

How Should We Live?

Colossians 3:18-25

In this section, Paul addresses relationships within the home. The first relationship he discusses is that of husbands and wives. Wives are to be submissive to their husbands, and husbands are to love their wives. Now, we are not wives, but I think all of us hope to be wives someday. This means that we need to be preparing ourselves for marriage by practicing submission and other qualities found in Titus 2, Prov 31, and Eph 5. These attributes can be practiced through submission to parents and to church leadership, and those other as character qualities in your everyday life. When it does come time to marry, you want to make sure that the man you are interested in loves the Lord more than anything else, even you. This also needs to be true of you. You should be satisfied in Christ before you are married because your husband will never be able to fulfill all your desires. Another quality you want in a man is the ability to lead you spiritually and to love you as Christ loves the church. He will not be perfect, nor will his love, but the key fact is that he is striving for that goal.
The next relationship addressed is between parents and children. This is something we can all relate to right now since we are all children. As I mentioned earlier, practicing obedience and submission to your parents is one way that you are training for marriage. It is also a picture of our relationship with God. He is our loving and perfect Father who will discipline us in order to produce righteousness in our lives. It is out of love that our parents guide and discipline us. They are seeking to teach us how to live godly lives. You girls are just beginning the transition from complete parental guidance to independence. Your parents are wise and have lived longer than you. Respect their opinions and listen to them. God has placed them in your lives to help you and guide you. You are growing up and need to begin taking responsibility for your life, but that does not mean that your parents have no say or authority over you. As long as you live in their house, you are obligated to their authority. Even as you leave the house, until you are married, they still have authority over you. It is imperitive that you treat them with respect. They are not perfect and will make mistakes, but you need to work with them as a team as you learn and grow in your walk with Christ.
The last relationship is that between servants and masters. We don't have servants or masters like they did in biblical times, but I think the principles can be applied to a job situation. You should obey your bosses (as long as they are not telling you to sin) and do your work with excellence so that you will be able to be a witness for Christ. You want the people you work for and with to see that you are different. The goal of doing your work with excellence is not to gain praise or recognition, but to bring glory to Christ. Remember that! This idea of excellence in all that you do should be applied to your whole life, from school, to work, to church, and at home. All things should be done with excellence as unto the Lord for the purpose of bringing glory to His name. In verse 23 and 24, we see that God will reward those who serve Him, and punish those who don't. It is a matter of reaping what you sow. Make sure that you are sowing godliness and thus reaping the fruit of righteousness.