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Colossians 3:23-24

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

Personal Challenge

Jesus left His glorious place in heaven to come and be one of us and live amongst us. He submitted Himself, the Son of God, to spend 9 months in the womb of His earthly mother Mary, so that He would be incarnated as one of us. He lived the life of a lowly, migrating human being to be able to fully embrace His humanity. He did this, all the while, retaining His God-ness. He was fully God and fully man. He lived a sinless life and then humbly let humankind kill Him on the cross, only to be resurrected. He did this for us, for you, for me. This is why one of the marks of a person that is truly a follower of Christ is that they do what they do for Him. They do not do their works for another person, or a religious institution, or a political party, or for any other reason but to glorify and magnify God. Keep an eye on this when people say that they are doing something for God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Sirach 7:20-21

Do not mistreat a servant who does his work in truth
Nor a hired worker who devotes himself to you.
Let your soul love an intelligent servant;
Do not deprive him of his freedom.

Personal Challenge

One of the problems that comes from a society that becomes so focused on the accumulation of wealth is that it results in the abuse of those who do not have wealth. We are seeing this play out today in the disparity of income between the leaders of companies and the frontline workers. As the gap grows. so does the mistreatment of those who are truly responsible for generating the wealth for the elite. This is not a new problem. It has been with us since the beginning of time. The way to change it is to shift our focus from the accumulation of wealth to sharing of our wealth with those in need. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have money!

Colossians 3:12-17

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Personal Challenge

It is so frustrating that so many people claim to be Christians and yet they ignore all the teachings in the scriptures about how to live a Christlike life. It is no wonder that so many people today do not want to have anything to do with Christianity. Lord, have mercy! So, what is this passage telling us to do to be able to demonstrate to the world that we are really followers of Christ? Here is the list parsed out from this passage so that it is easy to see…

Sirach 7:1-3

Do no evil things,
And evil will never overtake you.
Stay away from wrongdoing,
And it will turn away from you.
My son, do not sow on the furrows of wrongdoing,
And you will not reap the same things sevenfold.

Personal Challenge

If you do evil things (lie, cheat, steal, etc.) often enough and long enough, then you begin to believe that it is good and acceptable. We definitely see this in our culture today. Sirach teaches that if we strive to avoid doing evil things and wrongdoing, then we will not be overrun by both their consequences and the acceptance that they are okay. A great lesson for us all. Glory be to God!

Colossians 3:8-10

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Personal Challenge

Paul does not pull any punches to the Christians in Colosse. He is addressing the issues that have made their way into this early church. It is interesting to see how many of these same issues have made their way into so many churches of today. If we desire to truly be followers of Christ, then it is incumbent upon us to take these same guidelines to heart in our daily lives. If I am a real follower of Christ and not just a person that has donned the moniker of “Christian”, then I will be putting off these human traits: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, lying to one another, and mistreating others in categories different than myself. If I am indeed a new person in Christ, then I will love my God and my neighbor in ways that are clearly obvious and uniquely different than the rest of the world. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Sirach 6:18-19

My son, from your youth up, choose instruction,
And you will find wisdom also into old age.
Come to her as one who plows and sows,
And wait expectantly for her good fruits;
For in her work you will labor a little while,
Then you will quickly eat of her fruit.

Personal Challenge

We live in a time where so many people believe that they are the expert and no longer need any additional instruction. We can always use more teaching and guidance in our lives. Sirach reminds us how important it is to seek that instruction from Wisdom (an image of Christ in the Old Testament). If we seek Wisdom, we will find it, even in our old age. We must come to Wisdom as a farmer, one who plows and sows the furrows of our minds and intellect, to secure the best fruits. Through our labor and hard work in Wisdom, we will be rewarded and feed at the banquet, Glory be to God!

Colossians 3:5

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Personal Challenge

As I navigate through various social media sites, I have become very aware of how many people have been hurt by people who proclaim that they are Christians. How sad it will be for them. when they stand before their proclaimed Lord and are reminded that they did not love their neighbor as He expected them to. Our responsibility as followers of Christ is to love God and our neighbor. Who is our neighbor? Every human being, especially the widow, the orphan, the naked, the poor, and the alien amongst us. This is what we will be judged on, not now many nasty posts we made in the virtual world or saintly hymns that we sang all the while verbally abusing those who don’t think the way that we do. This is why Paul instructed the Colossians, and us, to put to death the ways of the world and to embrace a kingdom way of being. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner and help me to show that mercy to my fellow neighbor!

Sirach 6:14-17

A faithful friend is a strong shelter,
And he who finds one finds a treasure.
There is nothing that can take the place of a faithful friend,
And there is no way to measure his worth.
A faithful friend is a medicine of life,
And those who fear the Lord will find him.
He who fears the Lord guides his friendship rightly,
Because as he is, so also is his neighbor.

Personal Challenge

Sirach reminds us how valuable it is to have a faithful friend in our lives. It is important to remember that to have a faithful friend, we must be a faithful friend. As an introvert who has learned to live in an extroverted world, it has been difficult to find this kind of friend. I do have some friends that I am close to and trust deeply, but this depth of friendship has eluded me. My hope, and prayer is that God will help us all find a person like this in our lives. Glory be to God!