“ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Col 2:6-7
Sisters in Christ,
Do you remember when you first gave your heart to the Lord? Remember that first time you realized how much your heart ached for the only One who could satisfy your every desire and you trusted Him to be the King of your life? I remember both being excited and yet slightly terrified, full of hope and faith that this Jesus was going to change my heart and my world. It’s like falling in love, when you’re able to just walk in boldness and surety of the love you have and someone else has for you.
At what point do we start to get comfortable in our love relationship with the Lord? Just like in a relationship we can maybe get complacent in our interactions or time spent with friends or loved ones, how do we know if we’ve been complacent in our continued relationship with the Lord of our life? In Colossians 2:6 we are reminded to continue to live our lives in Christ Jesus, just as we received Him. We can keep our excitement and foundation in Jesus, especially as we stay “rooted and built up in Him”. When we delight and remain dwelling in God’s word, we are rooted and built up like the tree planted near streams of water in Psalm 1:2-3. This tree yields its fruit in season, doesn’t get withered or dried out, and prospers in all it does.
To continue to live our lives in Him, we are also called to “be strengthened in the faith as you were taught”. We need to work out our faith muscles and be strengthened as we trust in His leading and provision for our lives, but that also comes through being “taught” to be increasing in faith. Do we have brothers and sisters that encourage us to strengthen our faith, or do we ever reach out to others for their hearts to be spurred on in their faith workouts? It says in Matthew 17:20 that even faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, but what if we allowed God to grow that mustard seed into a full blown tree of faith that increases to thousands more mustard seeds of faith!
We can overflow with thankfulness when we live our lives in Him this way because we see that He alone is our steady foundation and the streams of living water by which we are nourished, strengthened, rooted and built up. When we keep our hearts and lives grounded in Jesus, our overflowing gratitude will be evident and increase our joy and faith because we remember receiving the Lord’s love from the beginning. Let’s pray for our sisters this month to be strengthened in their faith, to be rooted and built up in Christ, and to be overflowing with thankfulness so that they would continue to live lives in Him!
Looking to Jesus,
Jaime Angel