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Paul is praying for Colosse’s Christians (1:10-11). He prays that their lives will truly please God. So, in his prayer, he describes the kind of life that God’s people should live:
(1) As a good tree produces good fruit, so Christians should do good work. In other words, Christians should do those things that God wants them to do. Their lives should be full of acts that show love (1 Corinthians chapter 13), kindness, truth, and right behaviour (Romans 12:9-21).
(2) As a tree grows, so Christians should develop in their knowledge of God (Psalm 1:1-3).
(3) Christians should be people who depend on God’s strength to deal with the troubles in their lives (1:11). They should not depend on themselves, because they themselves are weak (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Rather, they allow God’s Holy Spirit to be present and active in their lives. The same Holy Spirit who raised Christ from death is working powerfully in their lives (Romans 8:11).
Their troubles in this world are many. So, they need to be bold, to stand firm for God through those troubles (Ephesians 6:10-14). At the same time, they need to be patient, as they wait for God to act powerfully on their behalf (James 5:10-11). They must learn to be joyful through all their troubles, because their trust is in God (Matthew 5:11-12; Colossians 1:24). They are not of course joyful because of those troubles – they can be joyful because of what God is bringing about in and through their lives (Romans 8:28-39).
(4) Some people think that Colossians 1:12 is the last part of this description. Christians should be grateful people; they should constantly thank God for his work in their lives. However, that verse has another possible meaning, which we will discuss in our next article.
Next part: Paul thanks God for his work in the lives of Christians (Colossians 1:12)
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© 2019, Keith Simons.