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| photo by Nancy Bates |
Colossians 1:9-10
What does God want?
a serious list of things
Paul is praying for a very serious list of things. He's praying for a list to show up and be evident in your Christian life. He says that you are to:
- walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,
- fully please him,
- bear fruit in every good work,
- increase in the knowledge of God.
That's quite a the list of what it means to live the Christian life. If we only did that, we'd be set, right?
what does God want?
But that's not what Paul is saying. If you look at the structure of the verses, this list is not the action to take to be a Christian. It's the reaction we have from being a Christian. Look more closely at the verses. What is he's praying for? What is Paul asking to have happen in your life? He's asking you to be filled with a knowledge of the will of God. In other words, understand what God wants?
So, what does God want?
God wants a relationship with you. He wants to be your father and he wants you to be his kid. He wants to know you, He wants to pour into your life. He wants to make you something you could never be without Him. And he doing this all the time, even when your not looking.
"dad, I made my bed."
If my son Ethan came to me and said: "Dad, I made my bed. Now am I your son?" I'd say, "stop being ridiculous." Why? Because He's already my son; now I help him make his bed. Even by force, if I have to. In this process he comes to know me more (knowledge of God), he starts to bare fruit as I teach him what it means to be a man (bear fruit in ever good work), his relationship pleases me (fully please him), and he starts to live like the man he's made to be (walk in a manner worthy of the Lord).
the Christian life = reaction of relationship
As you become a son or daughter of God, the way of living the Christian life becomes a reaction of your relationship with God, your father. Not a list of things you do.
