Life. The city of Colosse had once been a thriving center hub on the main trade route from Ephesus to the Euphrates River. Changing the course of the route over the years left it dwindling and drying up, like a once abundant fruit tree suffering from years of drought, dry and dying. Paul had visited Ephesus on a missionary journey and one of his converts was Epaphras. Epaphras was tasked with being a missionary to Laodicea and the nearby Colosse. The Lord blessed him with a strong response in those cities and the churches there blossomed. After he moved on to other destinations, the dwindling, dry city infected the churches there, allowing false teachings to creep in. Epaphras found this to be true and was alarmed, traveling a far distance to Rome to find Paul. Paul's response was his letter to the Colossians as is recorded in our bible. (This is my best paraphrase of the story.)
Now, one interesting tie in is in the Revelation letters to the churches. The letter to Laodicea is noteworthy. The town is right next to Colosse and evidently, the local churches had impactful influence on the surrounding areas and shared similar cultures. Laodicea was known for being rich in wealth, textile industry, and producing a famous, rare eye salve. The Lord said they had become lukewarm, taking their identity in their pride of these things, allowing them to replace their devotion to Him. He wanted them to be rich in Him, be clothed with Him, and let Him heal their eyes so they could really see.
I think the connection is real and applicable. Colosse had strayed from the path of the true gospel and allowed twistings and perversions to enter in their spirituality. They had placed their faith in themselves and what they thought was best to suit their selfish goals. We are faced with the same challenges today. Anyone else ever go through dry spells and have their hearts and attitudes go downhill, only to find they are letting down their guard and letting go of their hope in the truth and promises? Maybe a lot of bad habits begin this way. Gravity takes over.
So Paul writes this letter to the Colossian church. We dissect the text from Col. 1: 3-14. Oh, how encouraging people's responses are to us. We so long for people to be on the same page, agree, and have unity! This is the heart of God. This is what turns us on to our women. No one wants a participant that isn't responding with interest. We soar when we are joined by people that are truly with us. You notice this in other places in scripture. It means so much, especially as the missionaries were doing their jobs in rough places and had persecutions along the way. They thanked God whenever they heard of the new church's faith. Now, read the text as if it is written to you. "We always thank God when he pray for you, hear of your faith, asking Him to..." Continuing in the text: They are praying for us to be filled with the knowledge of God's will by His Spirit so we can truly live a Godly life full of Godly values, and pleasing Him every step of the way. Thus, He is going to bring fruit in our lives. First, in His character developing in you. Second, people. How many of us have an Epaphras? How many have that one person that they know God used them to help bring to salvation? And oh, how God wants to strengthen us with all of His glorious power to help us not only overcome the gravity of this world, but to completely fulfill our purpose in this life. We can be invincible in Christ! We can make it through this thing and...stand. We can have great endurance and whoa..., yep, patience. Then comes what? Joy? No more walking zombies. We've got life, baby! No more walking dead, moping about, complaining, griping, whining about how bad things are, etc. We've got the pillar of fire lighting up our lives within us for all to see. And He, alone, qualifies us to share in His inheritance. It's His shed blood, death, and resurrection that provides The Way for us to experience true life by His forgiveness and redemption. He has claimed our existence as His own, rescuing us from darkness and destruction, bringing life to our dead condition. Thank you, Lord. Be my life. It's all for You anyway.
