Before you jump into this week’s Men’s Ministry blog post, pause for a moment and open this time in prayer.
Ask the Lord to open your spiritual eyes and your heart to what He wants to reveal to you as you get into His Word.
Now open your Bible to Colossians 3 and read verses 1–17.
If time permits, I’d encourage you to read the entire book of Colossians. As you read, watch for this common theme:
Christ is supreme → you are united with Christ → therefore, live, walk, and respond as someone who belongs to the new life you have in Christ.
For today, though, I want to focus on a few areas in these verses where the Lord has been challenging me personally.
As you read, ask yourself:
● What stands out to me?
● What is the Spirit revealing to me?
● Where is He challenging me as I allow His Word to penetrate my heart?
“You will either bend your life to God’s Word, or you will try to bend it to fit yours.” - Pastor Rik
I’ve heard Pastor Rik make this statement many times over the years I’ve known him. It’s simple. It’s punchy. But lately, it continues to echo in my mind as I read passages like Colossians 3.
And it leaves me with a lingering question:
Where have I been taking the Lord’s Word and trying to bend and reshape it to fit the life I want to live, instead of allowing His Word to reshape me?
Think about the absurdity of that for a moment.
I am a simple, finite human being.
Yet how often do I take the words of the God of the universe - the eternal One, the Creator of everything seen and unseen, everything we know and everything we have yet to discover - and pull His words into my little human mind and attempt to make them bend around my preferences, my thinking, my desires, and my temporary life?
My life here is incredibly short. A tiny speck in the sands of time. A vapor. Here one day and gone the next.
And yet somehow I catch myself trying to bend Him to fit me - absolute silliness. Thinking about it this way brings to mind a commonly used statement in our house: “Stop being a knucklehead.”
Here are some areas Colossians 3 has been directly impacting this knucklehead:
I Have Been Raised With Christ — So Live Like It
Paul begins:
“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ…”
That statement is enormous! If I have been raised with Christ, then I shouldn’t continue walking around as though I’m still the same man I was before Him. There is a new life available to me - so walk in it. Live in it. Respond from it. Stop constantly returning to the grave Christ already brought me out of.
I have been raised with Christ - so act like it.
Walk in the victory of the new life He has given me.
I Was Made for So Much More
If I have been raised with Christ and my life is now “hidden with Christ in God,” then I was made for something far greater than simply accumulating the things of this world.
Paul tells us:
“Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.”
That forces me to ask some uncomfortable questions.
What do my choices reveal about what I believe?
What does my calendar reveal?
What does my relationship with money reveal?
What does the investment of my time show?
What do my interactions with people reveal?
What consumes my thoughts?
What am I chasing after? I
f someone studied my life, would they conclude that I genuinely believe I was made for eternity?
Or would they conclude that I believe this temporary world is all there is?
He made me for so much more than simply living for the things of this world.
Stop Walking Like the Old Man
I don’t have to manufacture this life through my own strength. The Spirit of God lives within me. Think about that for a bit.
The Spirit of God is dwelling inside of me and empowering me to live the life Christ has called me to live!
That means I can put away the things that belonged to my old life.
Anger.
Wrath.
Malice.
Slander.
Filthy speech.
Lying.
Sexual immorality.
Impurity.
Evil desires.
Greed.
These aren’t simply a checklist of “bad things Christians shouldn’t do.”
Paul is saying:
Those things belong to the old man. That isn’t who you are anymore.
So why do I keep reaching back into my “old closet” and putting those “clothes” back on?
As we wrap up Part 1 and you read through these sections of Colossians 3, do you answer the three questions from the beginning any differently:
● What stood out?
● What’s the Spirit revealing?
● Where are you being challenged as you allowed His Word to penetrate your heart?
Please share your responses with the rest of the Men’s Ministry in the comments sections below, and I look forward to reconnecting with you all for Part 2.
Written By: Lee Miles
