"Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone."
~Colossians 4:2-6 (NLT)
Ahhhhh.... Saturday!!! That wonderful first day of the weekend!!! We spent all day yesterday rejoicing that it was Friday (TGIF - Thank God It's Friday) because that meant today was almost here... and now it is. It is Saturday... we can do whatever we want... don't have to go to or do any work!!
Well.... that is almost true... we may not have to go to our place of employment (unless of course your work week includes Saturdays), but we still have work we have to do for the Lord! Our scripture today lets us know that we, as Christians always have work to do for the Lord... there are never "weekend" days where we are off work... Our scripture reminds us that there are some things we are always to be doing... no matter what day of the week it is:
1. We are to be devoted to prayer... praying with a thankful heart and an alert mind for not only our needs and the needs of others, but also for the mission that we as Christians are to be on - that of sharing the good news of God's redeeming love, mercy, grace and forgiveness, through which we can have new life!! And not just praying that our church leaders and pastors will be able preach and speak about this, but that we will also have opportunities and be able to do the same. Jesus called all his disciples to do this!!
2. We are to live wisely within our world... we will spread God's message of love in more ways than just speaking about it... we will mostly spread it by the way we live! St. Francis said, "Preach often, and when necessary, use words." In other words we must live in such a way as to proclaim the Gospel with our very actions... and there is more to doing that than just going to church every Sunday and living by the legalistic expectations of whatever church you might attend... Jesus said, "...learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice'" (Matt 9:13). We are to show our love and mercy to all people!! Our words about the gospel message will be empty if our lives do not back them up!
3. When we do speak with others about the faith, let's remember that God had grace and mercy on us, and we should be passing that grace on to others... as the scripture says, our words should be gracious... attractive... open... inviting others to accept God's love and mercy... not judging or threatening or telling people they have to get right before God will love them... Scripture tells us that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8). We don't do the cleaning up, we just do the catching... God's Holy Spirit, working within people's lives does the cleaning up!
So you see, my friends, there are no weekends off for Christians... we who call ourselves followers of Christ always have work to do!! Let us do it joyfully!!
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