Continue in the faith

Colossians 1:19-23: “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight; 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

One thing that always amazes me is that with all the junk I have done in the past and all the pain I caused for others, I, a sinner am now seen by God as holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight. This was only available because of the sacrifice that Jesus paid on the cross; Or as Paul writes, “having made peace through the blood of His cross.” For me the word peace was something unusual and foreign. I never had peace in my life, and in fact, I would go out of my way to ruin someone else’s peace. I would not even consider it possible that I could have peace with God. I thought that I was too far-gone.

However, God’s awesome plan showed me something different.
Getting peace with God only came when I, by faith, trusted in Jesus. Paul told the church at Colosse that if they continue in the faith and strive as Christ-followers they will become grounded and steadfast. It is so important to become grounded in something, that way when the trials of life and the worries of the day come we will not grow weary and be swept away in the stresses of the day. We now can have an answer when we are stressed and cannot seem to find margin in our lives. We will not be moved when our world is rocked by some tragic circumstance.

We can have hope through the blood of the cross, that we can be grounded and secure when life wants to squeeze the joy from us. Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!”

Tomorrows Readings:
Old Testament: Isaiah 43-44 New Testament Col. 2