Devotionals: Colossians Archives

Raised with Christ

By Andrew YoungJanuary 26, 2018Devotionals: Colossians

“If then you have been raised with Christ…” (Colossians 3:1) Bible Reading: Colossians 3:1-3 The opening words of the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Colossians bring us face to face with one of the great mysteries of the Christin faith. They tell us that through our union with Christ, we share with him in his resurrection and ascension to glory. Paul here addresses his readers as those who have been “raised with Christ,” and a little later, speaks of their lives as “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1, 3). This is something that never fails to stagger […]

Heavenly-Mindedness

By Andrew YoungJanuary 27, 2018Devotionals: Colossians

“…seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1) Bible Reading: Colossians 3:1-3 Most of us will have heard the saying, “You can be so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly use.” It often rang in my ears as I grew up. The thought behind it was that “heavenly” things belonged to a separate realm to “earthly” things, and since the latter is what life is really about, you have to be careful that you don’t get too distracted by the former! Paul, however, reverses that idea. He doesn’t […]

Dead yet Alive

By Andrew YoungJanuary 28, 2018Devotionals: Colossians

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3) Bible Reading: Colossians 3:1-3 This is one of those verses that just doesn’t seem to make sense to us, at least, not from a natural point of view. Paul says that we (Christians) have already “died” (Colossians 3:3). Yet outwardly, that is plainly not true. As yet, we haven’t died in the usual sense of that word. What, then, does Paul mean? We need to appreciate that this is not a random, one-off mention of this idea. The apostle refers to the same thing in […]

Hidden and Revealed

By Andrew YoungJanuary 29, 2018Devotionals: Colossians

“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4) Bible Reading: Colossians 3:1-4 We have been thinking together about the hiddenness of our life in Christ. Because he is the centre of our existence, and because he is seated at the right hand of God in heaven where he cannot be seen with physical eyes, our lives have a quality of “hiddenness” about them. But that will not always be the case. “When Christ who is your life appears,” writes Paul, “then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians […]

Putting to Death the Earthly

By Andrew YoungJanuary 30, 2018Devotionals: Colossians

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you…” (Colossians 3:5) Bible Reading: Colossians 3:5, 8-9 The more vividly the realities of the gospel grip us, the clearer our necessary response to them becomes. Take what we have been looking at – our union with Christ in his resurrection and ascension, the fact that our lives are hidden with him in God, the wonder that he is “our life,” and our ultimate appearing with him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4). If these things are true, then it makes sense, does it not, that we should set our minds and hearts on […]

The Wrath of God

By Andrew YoungJanuary 31, 2018Devotionals: Colossians

“On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” (Colossians 3:6) Bible Reading: Colossians 3:5-11 I read a book endorsement recently that described the series that the book belonged to as “mild on sin, but firm on grace.” It has stuck somewhat uncomfortably in my mind since then. It’s the “mild on sin” part that disturbs me. I know that in a desire to be “strong on sin” we can act self-righteously, condemning everything that doesn’t fit in with our view of what is right, good and true. Worse, we can project an image of God as an angry, […]

The Peace of Christ

By Andrew YoungFebruary 1, 2018Devotionals: Colossians

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” Colossians 3:15 Bible Reading: Colossians 3:15-17 I am writing this morning from the home of friends in Christchurch, on my way to the lower part of the South Island where I will spend the next month relieving a pastor and his young family so they can take a much needed break. As I have risen to meet the new day, my thoughts have been captivated by the words of Paul in Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart.” It is the distinctive character of the peace Paul […]

All for Jesus

By Andrew YoungFebruary 3, 2018Devotionals: Colossians

“…do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus…” Colossians 3:17 Bible Reading: Colossians 3:15-17 Late yesterday afternoon, I arrived at my destination in the town of Edendale in the deep south of the South Island. After the busyness of the past few days, I have woken eager to re-connect with old friends at the nearby Wyndham Golf Club this afternoon when I hope to join them in their regular Saturday afternoon competition. But as I anticipate this, I find myself confronted with a challenging verse in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. “And whatever you do,” he writes, “whether […]

The Word of Christ Within

By Andrew YoungFebruary 4, 2018Devotionals: Colossians

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” Colossians 3:16 Bible Reading: Colossians 3:15-17 Yesterday was a day of meetings interspersed with longish stretches of driving. It was a day in which I experienced afresh the value of Paul’s admonition in the verse before us. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” he writes, “as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). While I wasn’t exactly “teaching and admonishing” the friends I met with, our conversations were […]

Working for Jesus

By Andrew YoungFebruary 5, 2018Devotionals: Colossians

“It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:24 Bible Reading: Colossians 3:18-25 Just as he did in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul details for the Colossians how life in Christ is to work itself out in relationships within households. We will not dwell on all that he has to say, except to consider his instructions to slaves. For here, Paul offers insights applicable to us all. After having urged slaves to offer sincere service to their earthly masters, not mere “eye-service,” (Colossians 3:22) he adds, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working […]