Colossians 2

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."
Colossians 2:6-7

It was Paul's heartfelt desire that all the Colossian believers and all believers in Christ Jesus everywhere would reflect Jesus in their lives.  Paul's desire was that they would practice their faith in their attitudes and actions.

According to Colossians 2:2 Paul's first desire was that Christians would "be encouraged in heart."  God does not want us to become discouraged in our walk and life lived for Him.  Life tends to have many obstacles and difficulties at times, but we belong to the Lord for time and for eternity.  Therefore, we need not become discouraged!  If we are daily spending time in God's Word and resting in His promises, we can "be encouraged in heart" no matter what our circumstances.  The secret to a joyful life according to Colossians 2:3 is resting in Christ Jesus "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."  We must get our wisdom from the Lord through His Word.  The world's "wisdom" may often sound logical and good, but it will fail us every time.  The Lord's wisdom may be laughed at by the world, but His wisdom will never fail us!

It was also Paul's desire and is God's desire for us that we do not just receive the Lord Jesus as our Savior.  We must also grow in our faith.  We need to practice as well as possess our faith. In order to do this we need to grow in our personal love relationship with the Lord.  Colossians 2:6b-7 tells us that we need to "continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith."

We need to "live in Him."  We need to have an intimate, living, and spiritual relationship with the Lord.  Through this intimate spiritual union with Christ we need to be growing in our faith every day.  We also need to be "rooted" in Him.  Just like a plant can not grow well without deep roots, we too can not grow spiritually without being deeply rooted and foundationed in the Lord.  Just as a plant reaches down through its roots to the source of its needed supply of nutrients, so we need to find our source of strength in the Lord alone.  We need to be deeply "rooted" in the Lord.  One way we do this is by feeding on the Word of God.

We also need to be "built up" in Christ.  We need to be "built up" into Christ-likeness.  We must  increasingly be reflecting Christ-like attitudes and actions in our lives.  To be able to do this we must be "strengthened in the faith."  Jesus Christ must be our source of strength in all things.  We must not depend on human resources for our strength.  We must depend on the Lord alone.  Finally, Colossians 2:7b tells us that we need to be "overflowing with thankfulness" in our lives.

Jesus Christ is God Himself.  Colossians 2:9-10 says, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ."  In Christ you and I have been given everything we need for time and for eternity!  Our sins have been forgiven, and according to Colossians 2:12b we have been "raised with Him" through our faith "in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead."  We are alive in Christ and have a totally new life in Him!  Now we must seek to be truly living in Christ, rooted and foundationed in Him, and built up and strengthened in Him.  Our hearts must be overflowing with thankfulness to Him, and this thankfulness must show in our lives.  We must in thankfulness seek to live our lives for His glory!