Steadfast in the Faith

Colossians 1:9  For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10  so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11  May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12  giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13  He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16  for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers--all things have been created through him and for him. 17  He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18  He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20  and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 21  And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22  he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him-- 23  provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

Paul writes to the Christ-followers in Colossae that since he had heard of their love for him he had prayed for them....that they may be strong. He noted that this strength is initiated and rooted in Jesus, who is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation”.

We who follow Jesus are brought closer to God through our faith in Jesus. This is not something that enhances our status, or boosts our personal standing. We become the reconcilers of those who are estranged and the servants of our world.    

First Sunday in Advent

1. The Lord is Coming

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 14.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.