My journey through the letter of Colossians ends today. These are my reflections and impressions of this short, but powerful letter to believers in Colossae.
Paul shares from his time and culture some timeless teachings that can be impactful even today: Regarding marriage and families, there is a sacred role in serving God. Each member of the family has a responsibility and duty to fulfill. The wife, the husband, even children should be partners in the work of faithfulness to God. Love plays an important role in every family, as does obedience and faithfulness to each other as well as faithfulness and obedience to God. There is no room for creating tension or disrespect towards one another, instead we should seek to build one another up as we encourage our moving forward in our walk with Christ. We should let sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord motivate us in our daily lives. Whatever we are called to do for Him should be done with all our heart, we are working for the Lord after all, not for the praise of humans. Be mindful that we will share in an inheritance as a reward for our faithfulness and fruitfulness. We should also know that our wrongdoings will also result in negative payback.
Our devotion to God should lead us to a devotion to prayer. Our prayers should be an expression of affection for God as well as a reflection of what we have seen and received. We should pray with thankfulness. We should pray for one another, asking for opportunities to come our way in which to share the message of our faith. We should pray for servants of God around the world that may be imprisoned because of their Christian faith.
Prayer opens doors and opens our hearts.
May it be so!
COLOSSAL PRAYER: Lord, make us wise in our dealings with all people, especially those outside the faith. Let us take advantage of every chance to share and live our faith in a positive, loving way. As we share, let us share wisely and with grace, allowing the Holy Spirit to help us answer all questions about faith. This we pray in the name of Jesus our Lord, amen.
The letter ends with final greetings from Christian workers, both imprisoned or free, with Paul, including Paul's "dear friend Luke, the doctor." Paul expected the latter to be read aloud in the church of Colossae as well as the reading aloud of a letter to Laodiceans. He wrote the greeting with his own hand even while chained because of his faith in the Gospel.
I encourage the prayerful reading of this letter for the edification of our faith.
