Three Things

"We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit."
Colossians 1:3-8

Paul begins this letter by telling the church at Colesse that he is praying for them. Paul was a man of prayer. Even from prison; even in the most difficult of circumstances, he was a man of prayer. This is such an encouragement to me, as well as a word of exhortation. Sometimes, as believers, we relegate prayer to the last thing we can do, instead of it being the first and most important thing we can do. Prayer is a powerful thing. It aligns our hearts with the heart of God, and allows us to be in tune with God's will.

The church at Colosse had three qualities that Paul mentions here, that should be not only in the life of a fellowship, but in the life of the individual believer as well: faith in Jesus Christ, love for all the saints, and the hope of reward in heaven. As a believer, sometimes we take for granted our faith in Jesus Christ. It sounds far-fetched, I know. But once we come to Christ, born again, that is only the beginning. Our salvation is not the end, it is the beginning. Too many times believers get caught in laziness or apathy, thinking that everything is taken care of once they are born again. In one sense, that may be true, as far as destination is concerned. But throughout the New Testament, the principle is taught of serving the Lord, doing the work of the kingdom until the King returns. Jesus did the will of His Father while here on earth. We too, must be about the Lord's business, until He returns.

The second thing Paul gives thanks for, is the Colossians love for the saints. Do we have love in our lives? It is the fruit of the Spirit. Love. Jesus said that the world will know that we belong to Him, by the love we have for one another. In our world, the philosophy that the only thing that matters is me, seems to be the prevailing attitude. Society used to be governed by the Biblical principle that putting others first was what mattered. But we went from that, to the philosophy that I am more important than others, so I should go first, to what we see today: I am the only thing that matters. And it is to this world, that God calls us to love. The world sees so little of it, so I guarantee that when you begin loving your brother and sister, and your co-worker, and the people you meet on the street, and in your neighborhood, when you start loving these people, the world will notice. Paul was in prison and he heard of the love that the church at Colosse had for the saints.

And finally, Paul gives thanks for the hope that the church at Colosse had in their reward that awaited them in heaven. This hope wasn't the kind of hope that isn't sure of something but there is a chance that it might be true. No. This is the kind of hope that says that what awaits is a sure thing, I just can't have it yet. That is the hope of all the saints in Jesus Christ. Our citizenship is heaven. Our hope is in heaven. Not on this earth. So beloved, don't get so entangled in this world. We are just passing through. So take heart, beloved. One of these days, we are blasting out of here, to be finally joined with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

These three things were evidence that the church at Colosse was maturing in their walk with Christ. Paul notes that they were bringing forth fruit in their fellowship, and in their individual lives. And that is where we want to be, beloved. We want to stand in our faith in Jesus Christ. We want to be examples of love for the saints, and have our hope in heaven and not this world. That will produce fruit in my life, in your life, in our lives, and will be something the world will see. And we can be lights to a dark world around us. Be encouraged brothers and sisters. The Holy Spirit will teach us all things. It says so in His Word. Allow Him to work in your life today. Amen.