Colossians 2:6-7- As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. NKJV
In my last blog, we looked at the first part of this verse and discussed what it looks like to make an adjustment in our lives as we walk before the Lord. There is no way to come in contact with the Word of God and remain unaffected. A change must come!
Paul says that we are to be rooted in Christ. We may recall from a science class that the roots of a plant draw water and nutrients necessary for the plant’s life. A spiritual connection is most definitely found in this natural analogy.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 NKJV
A tree or plant with good roots produces good fruit. So is the believer in Christ! We are blessed and fruitful. We don’t become afraid because of heat or drought. The weather doesn’t affect the tree any more than circumstances affect us because our hope and trust is in the Lord! We are rooted in Him!
Paul also encouraged us to be built up in Him! Paul wrote this to the church of Ephesus:
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22 NKJV
Isn’t this wonderful news? We are no longer strangers, sinners, without God. We are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s own household. As such, we are being built on the same foundation that the apostles and prophets of the New Testament was built on, and Jesus is the chief cornerstone! In layman terms, the cornerstone joins two walls together so that they won’t fall apart!
Jesus joined the Jews and the Gentiles together in Him. Everything is being fitted together that we might grow into a holy temple in the Lord. Not only that, we are being built together to be a dwelling place for God in the Spirit!
Paul is not referencing a casual acquaintance with the Lord. He is not even thinking of a shallow knowledge of the Lord. Paul is instructing us, the church, how to be anchored or rooted in Christ, then he tells us why this is so important. God wants to dwell in holy vessels, and He wants to dwell in us. Therefore, we must be holy as He is holy! Peter said it like this:
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:4-5 NKJV
What a blessing to think that God has such high standards for us. He doesn’t see us as some ole dirty worthless worm. No! He says through His apostles that we are being built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices that He finds acceptable through Jesus! That’s amazing!
Lastly, Paul encourages us to be established in the faith! I believe the New Living Translation helps us to understand Paul’s train of thinking:
Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:7 NLT
This reference to faith refers to the truth that we believe about Jesus! We need to be fixed, strong, established in the what we believe. Paul had to continuously encourage the Jewish and Gentile believers to remain established in the teachings of Jesus. It was tempting, maybe even easy, to fall back and that which they were comfortable with, but Paul knew the dangers of that:
But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
Colossians 1:23 NLT
This encouragement is necessary today for us! Stuff is floating all over the internet and the television waves. If we aren’t careful to remain established in the truth of God’s word, we may find ourselves away from His word and involved in some other things that resembled Him but, in the end, weren’t Him. Paul suggested that we stick with what we were taught about Jesus! The only time we leave that, is when we realize it wasn’t truth at all.
For example. Some people believe that Paul teaches that it is best to live as a single person and to remain celibate. That’s not what he teaches. He teaches that it is okay to be married and it’s okay to be single. However you find yourself, do it for the glory of God. And yes, single people should be celibate! So if you were told you had to be single to truly serve God and therefore you shunned marriage, that would be an instance where you can leave that teaching because it is not scriptural. I hope that makes sense!
Then Paul tells us to do all of this, abounding in it with thankfulness. The life of the believer should be a life that abounds. Abounding gives a picture of living your best life! God wants us to live our best life! He isn’t calling us to barely get by or even think our life has to resemble another person’s life. He wants us to live the best life that He has for us, with thanksgiving!
I don’t need to explain what thanksgiving looks like! We all understand what it looks and sounds like. All-day long, and every chance we get, we should be giving Him thanks for all He has done!
If we are rooted, built up and established in the Lord, it is because He has His hand on our lives, and we are being led by His Spirit! That’s something for which we should all be thankful! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 