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[expand title=”Devotion Text”]Colossians 1:1-6
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.
There are some things you never want to hear. For instance, you never want to hear a surgeon say, “Whoops!” during surgery. With your mouth propped wide open, you never want to hear a dentist say, “Now which tooth was I supposed to pull?” You never want to hear the coach of a college basketball team that won one game and lost twenty-nine say, “Yeah, but the good news is that next year we have everybody back!” But here is the worst. You never want to hear a person who professes to be a Christian say, “Really, there has been no change in my life.”
The gospel of Jesus Christ is more than truth. It is a dynamic power that changes a person from the inside out. I love the way William Wilberforce—the primary person behind the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain—described his coming to Christ. He called it the “great change.” The gospel changes things!
Paul says to the believers in Colossae, “…[W]e heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints….” Paul did not hear of these things because the Colossian Christians believed their faith was “a private matter.” Paul heard of their faith and love because they were demonstrating visible acts of faith and love. Their invisible inward change resulted in visible outward action. Paul wrote that all over the world the dynamic power of the gospel was “bearing fruit!” Are you bearing spiritual fruit? Is anyone hearing about your faith and love?
Talking to God
Father, may I demonstrate your power with my life. May my family and friends see my faith lived out daily. May all see a “great change.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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