Word for Today: Friday, February 8, 2013

Colossians 4:2-18 Further Instructions

Memory Verse Colossians 4:2(KJV)

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving”;

So far, we have seen the rules that we need to follow to ensure we live Holy lives for Christ. Now Paul concludes his letter to the Colossians by given some further instructions which are very beneficial in our daily lives. He gave them further solutions to the heresy, he propose Holy living, a life of prayer, vigilance and thanksgiving.

Paul asked that a special prayer request be made on his behalf, that God will open door for the proclamation of the gospel.

Notice three key things Christians ought to do, Pray, Watch and give thanks. A prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian. Jesus, even when he was at the peak of his ministry found time to always pray, he prayed either before the break of dawn or in the cool of the evening. We are to follow his example. I remember a song I was taught the children Sunday school it goes thus:

Prayer is the key (2ce)

Prayer is the master key

Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer

Prayer is the master key

And as we pray we should be watchful too, a solider with all his armour if not prepared or watchful can be taken unaware and killed, so as Christians we should be alert both spiritually and physically because the devil is going around looking for preys (Matt 26:24, Mark 14:38, Luke 21:36, 1Peter 5:8). We have every reason to continually give thanks to God, as long as we see the dawn of a new day, we should keep giving thanks to God.

We are told to be wise in our relationship with the world; our conversation should be full of grace. We should be careful about what we say, although the tongue is small, its impact can either heal or destroy. Are you saving lives by proclaiming the gospel to the world?

  

From verses 7-17 Paul acknowledges some of his companion and co-labourers in Christ. He couldn’t have done it alone; God used each and every one of these people he mentioned to help him in propagating the gospel.

In chapter 1, we saw the supremacy of Christ, Chapter 2 told us to leave tradition and focus on Christ who has freed us from the law, Chapter 3 presents the rules for Holy living and the duties we have to perform as Christians. Chapter 4 concludes by encouraging us to be prayerful, vigilant and thankful. I hope we enjoyed this epistle. I pray that God bless you richly and empower you to live a Holy life for him. Amen