Family of God!

For Wednesday, April 3, 2024:

Colossians 1:4-5a NLT, to the church in Colosse from Paul and Timothy: “We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven.”

Early Christians called each other “brother” and “sister.” Some still do nowadays. Believers were all selected to join the family of God, and everyone in the family are akin to one another. “To all who believed Jesus and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Three things cemented Paul’s affiliation with these people. The first was “faith,” knowing who Jesus was and believing he could do what he said he would do. And the second was “love for all of God’s people.” “Loving their neighbor” was the differentiating value that set Christians apart from the general population. And the third, “confident hope.” The Message translation explains it like this: “The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.” Jesus promised believers a hereafter in the presence of God, and he will not fail us!

Paul sought out these characteristics in the Colossian church just as we should seek them in our own church and in our own lives. We are saved by grace through faith, so double down on the faith. Continue loving your brothers and sisters and all God’s people, even your enemies. Pray that they would see the light and change their ways. And cling tightly to the hope promised by Jesus, who said he would never leave us or forsake us. Count on it!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship