Appropriate Living

Several years ago, I was asked to write devotionals for the women's ministry in the church I was attending. I'm still not quite sure how my name got to the director (I did not know her that well) or why she thought of me, but I really enjoyed it. This morning, I began reading through Colossians. A few things jumped out at me, and I thought I would do a little writing again.

I love the book of Colossians and would highly recommend you read through it on your own. I especially love chapter one, because it is here that the Word makes it very clear, to me, that Christ's coming was for ALL and not just a few. Paul uses the word "everyone" and "everything" over and over.

In verses nine and ten, Paul writes out his prayer for the Colossians:

"...that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God."

What a great prayer -- one that I am writing out to pray for myself, my husband, my children and others.

This morning, though, I got caught up in the first part; to walk worthy of the Lord. Is that even possible? Surely, walking worthy of the Lord means perfection. He is perfect. So, if I am to walk in a manner worthy of Him, do I have to be perfect?

It would be very easy to adapt to that line of thinking. I mean, we know we can't be perfect; therefore, God wouldn't ask us to be. But, how many of us naturally begin to list all that we must DO in order to walk worthy of the Lord?

I dusted off my concordance, because I wanted to see the original Greek for "walk" and "worthy". If you've ever used Strong's concordance, you know that there are usually several options/words given in the definition. "Walk" as it is used here means "live" and "worthy" means "appropriately".

I really do want you to read through this chapter on your own, but let me give you a preview. Paul explains in detail all that God, the Father, has done in order that we may "share" in His life. In a statement, He sent Christ! He goes on to say that God was PLEASED to have all fullness dwell in Jesus and through Christ to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the cross.

Caleb is learning to tie his shoes. We have to do it in stages, and he is getting pretty good at the first step. So, each morning, I tie his shoes for him. Very appropriately, Caleb jumps up when I am finished and runs off to do whatever is next. It would be extremely inappropriate for Caleb to sit in the floor trying to do for himself what I have already done. He would miss out on so much if that were his response to my actions towards him.

Now, I know that is somewhat of a silly illustration. But, I find myself doing the same thing on many occasions. I look at all that God has done for me, and I want to add to it somehow. However, wouldn't I be "walking worthy of the Lord" or "living appropriately" to get up each day thanking Him for all the HE has done and asking Him to show me how I can participate in His work -- in His life?

The theme of chapter one is that we have been reconciled through Christ. That work is done. So, let's receive it as the gift that it is and live appropriately.