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. 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. Colossians4:2-6
Paul has been talking to everyone: Husbands, Wives, Children, Parents, Slaves and Masters. He has been urging them to wear the "new clothes" of compassion, gentleness, kindness, humility and patience that we talked about yesterday.
But where is this all headed? What does this trade represent?
In these verses Paul makes it clear that it is all about reaching others:
He asks the Colossians to pray for him SO THAT a door for proclaiming the message might be opened and that he will proclaim clearly.
He urges them: Be wise, use every chance you get, let grace and gospel saltiness be in your words.
This is our trade: To move from being self-concerned and self-absorbed to reaching others. This is the bottom line of why we are here.
We trade the pursuit of our own pleasures, agendas and ideals for:
- Our spouses knowing and growing in Christ.
- Seeing our children accept Christ and following Him.
- Seeing our parents willing to accept Christ because of our example.
- Our workers, bosses and colleagues seeing Christ in us.
What opportunities do you have today?
Can you swallow the biting words you may be tempted to blurt out and let your speech be full of grace and saltiness?
Are you ready to answer: "Having God in my life is the best thing I have done."
That's the trade for today...
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
