For this Reason: A Lifestyle Pleasing to the Lord

Paul’s letter’s to the church are our guiding scripture for this series. It is essentially a prayer for the church.

Colossians 1:9-14

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks[a]to the Father, who has qualified you[b] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Context

Today we are going to focus on the second part of verse 10, “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him”. The first thing we should do when we are studying scripture is ask: what is God saying to the people in the context it was written. This passage was written as an encouragement but also as a challenge to the first century church as the navigated their newfound faith and worked to establish something that had never existed before.

Active Scripture Reading

When we read scripture actively versus passively, we can gain more retention and engagement with the text. It helps us to have a conversation with what we are reading so that we gain insight and wisdom. The method is called  “+ - ? “ . These are three responses that we internally have as we read. The first is the positive response we have, what encourages and compels us as we read? The second is what convicts or creates more negative feelings as I read the text. And the third is what questions does this passage bring up, that I want to seek answers on. As I am reading I simply add these symbols as I find these types of passages, and the whole process creates active reading that also creates follow up for me and my spiritual life.

I have learned that when I find negative emotions as I read scripture that it’s showing me sin in my own heart, and it’s my heart that needs to bend not scripture. It’s very important to not overlook these emotions, because it’s God trying to get our attention and help us work through something.

Application

As we apply these principles to the scripture today, the idea of “pleasing God in every way” creates a positive emotional response in me. The pleasure of the Father is the way that Jesus lived, and as we work more to be like Jesus that is the desire of our hearts. However, the first part of this verse includes an action item that creates tension as we really ponder on the meaning: “live a life worthy of the Lord”. There is no possible way for me to deserve a life worthy of the Lord. Acknowledgement of my sin, and the grace that saves me is a foundational belief of following Jesus. So, this notion of a worthy life, really causes us to pause and reflect on what this means. The wording of this scripture can help us to grasp what God is saying through Paul here. “So that” is a connecting phrase that points us to what came before. So, if we turn our attention back to the verse before. “Through all wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives”. This is the how we know how to live a life worthy of the Lord. The empowerment comes from the Spirit and the fruits that he gives. It’s not our own understanding or wisdom.

This is a heart posture, it’s an active dependence on the Holy Spirit and the power he has in our lives. When we approach our lives with dependence on God, that he has done the heavy lifting for us, we approach our lives in a totally different way. It’s not a result of our own work or merit. So if we know these things to be true, then what does the word “worthy” mean in our lives. If we use the first principle of what God was saying in the original text to the original people, the Greek language can be incredibly helpful. In the Greek, this word “worthy” refers to weighing, having weight. The image of a scale comes to mind, and Paul is saying to the original people that he is praying that the church would live a life that has weight.

Weight

The main goal of the book of Colossians has themes of encouragement but also truth woven throughout. We learn that Paul is in prison as he was writing this letter, and his friend planted the churches he was writing too. He knows that these believers heard the Gospel and were incredibly responsive to it. He knew that their faith was built on the hope of Jesus’ kingdom and an intimacy with the Father. Paul was also aware of some cultural pressures that were on these people. Some of the philosophies of this time, were very much at odds with a life that follows Jesus. One of these philosophies was that people worshipped angels. Paul understood that each of these believers was on a journey and were working towards maturity in their faith. This gave him concern, and so one of the themes of this book was to spur them on towards that maturity.

The thing we can take away from what Paul was saying to these people, was to be filled with spiritual maturity and substance. So that when hardship and cultural pressures come at us, we are weighed down with Spiritual authority so that nothing can move us. Each of us has a step to take to become more weighed with the Holy Spirit. Ask God to show you how you can grow and through his understanding and wisdom he will give you spiritual growth.