Walk like this. Colossians 1.3-14

Walk like this.  Colossians 1.3-14

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Hello. 

She was sitting at my kitchen table, having come along with a couple of her sports chums, with Bible and notebook in hand, ready to be taught.  Dani was young and brand new to the Christian faith, but she wanted so badly to do the right thing.  At one point, she asked me for a list of sins, so as to be able to make wise choices with her life, and honor God.  Wow!   Somehow it seemed like she had been inoculated with Paul’s sentiments as he wrote to the Colossian believers:  “Walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him and desiring to please him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition]. Verse is from the Amplified Bible.

What does it mean to ‘walk in a manner worthy of the Lord’?  Brought to mind was the words from the Old Bible, as my mama used to call it, “What does the Lord require of you?  To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with the Lord your God.”¹ But when I put pen to paper this morning, and looked at the larger passage we have been considering, perhaps the clues to ‘worthy walking’ lie within these very same verses.

“God, what is walking in a manner worthy of you?” I asked. The answer starts with faith in Christ Jesus², from verse 4.  We cannot know God, walk with God, or walk in a manner worthy of him, without faith in Jesus.  It all starts there; without Jesus, ‘faggetaboutit’.  It is Jesus who delivers us from darkness³; it is Jesus who redeems us; it is Jesus who forgives us of our sins⁴.  When we choose to accept Jesus, God pours out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us,⁵ and then we are filled with the Spirit. 

‘So, how do I know if I am filled with the Spirit?’ you ask.  ‘Mostly by the contents of your heart ~> which will then overflow to your actions.  Three things usually characterize the life of a person filled with the Holy Spirit: love for God and others, and joy;  a desire to serve others from the gifts God bestowed upon you when you came to know him,⁶ a passion to share Christ with those who do not know him.  Having a soft heart toward God, and a strong desire to please him are indicators that the Spirit is in you as well.

Paul told us to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.⁷   Personally, I know that the Holy Spirit is with me, but there are times I do not feel his presence.  When that is the case, I think of whether or not I have done anything to grieve my God, confess it and ask forgiveness, and then I ask God to fill me anew, to fill me afresh with his Holy Spirit. 

These are the things that help us to know that when we walk like this we are walking in a manner worthy of the Lord.