Friday, October 11, 2024
Speaking to God and Others – Colossians 4:2-6 by Kay Crumley
Paul is coming to the end of his letter to the church in Colossae. He has given the members of this church instructions on how to live the life of a believer and to grow like Christ in character and behavior. In chapter 3 the thing that stood out to me was how to behave in the workplace. We are to do everything we do to the best of our ability as if working for the Lord. Our Master is not our earthly boss but our Heavenly Father. We are to strive to please Him in all we say and do. As he closes, in chapter 4, he returns to our personal relationship with God and those who have not yet come to faith in Christ.
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
In verses 2-4 Paul addresses our prayer life. Prayer is conversation with our Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. Consider how you interact with your best friend, or parents who you love dearly. Do you only speak to them weekly or less? Remember how you felt about your spouse as you were dating. Daily calls or texts were necessary when you didn’t see each other. Paul is saying we need to be as devoted to spending time in prayer with our Heavenly Father as we would to a person who we adore. We are to be watchful for anyone or any teaching that is counter to His teaching. A heart and attitude of thankfulness is necessary for worship. We are to pray for our spiritual leaders, pastors and teachers. Also, for our fellow believers as we share the gospel to those who need to hear about Him. Paul desired to proclaim the gospel clearly so his listeners would have no trouble understanding. That should be our desire as well. The gospel is not complicated, we need to share it so anyone can understand.
5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Paul instructs us how to interact with outsiders in verses 5-6. Be wise, speak the truth in love. As believers we know the ‘mystery’ of the gospel, Christ paid the penalty for our sin and offers us eternal life with Him. We cannot earn it, but it is a gift God gives to us through Jesus Christ. We are to make the most of the opportunity we have to share that message with those who do not know it or have not believed by faith, the outsiders. They are outside the family of God, and we are commissioned to present the gospel so they can have the option to join in His Kingdom. I really like verse 6 where he tells us how to show that wise action to those we meet. Speak to others with grace. Grace is undeserved favor given by God to us so our sins will be forgiven. Our conversation should be filled with kindness, not judgmental, or accusatory. We are to treat them as God treats us. But then he says it should be seasoned with salt. The commentaries I use say that means with wit. The priests, in the Old Testament, sprinkled the burnt offerings with salt. The food we like is more appealing if it is flavored properly. The gospel message will be more easily accepted if it is presented with kindness and flavored with good natured wit making it more acceptable. Everyone we approach is deserving of hearing the gospel. We are to use our God given wisdom to share it with them in a manner that will be understandable and easily accepted.
Our prayer life is important as we grow to know Him and replace our hard heart with the tender loving heart of God. Praying for other believers as they share the Word is vital to the Kingdom work God has for each of us. Our conversations must be filled with wisdom, truth, and flavored with wit in a way to draw others to Him. The gospel is about living in freedom and love, that is an attractive lifestyle. Let’s make sure we share it in a way that others want what we have in Him.
