Growing In The Faith

⁶As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

 ⁷Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

-Colossians 2:6-7 (KJV)

We have talked all this week about walking in the light of God's love, about planting the seeds of God's love in your life, about living for God. How can I do all that? How can I maintain a successful Christian life? I think the key is found in Colossians 2. 

Verse 6 says, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus as the Lord, so walk ye in him:" Have you received Christ Jesus as THE (emphasis mine) Lord of your life. You are never going to live the successful life that Jesus desires unless you make Him Lord of your life. What does Lord mean? Lord means "a person who has power or authority over others." Have you submitted to the authority of Jesus over your life? That's a point so many of us miss. You see, it's easy to make Jesus your Savior. It's another thing to make Him your Lord. But, until you do that you miss the greatest blessings of living the successful Christian life. You must surrender all parts of your life to Him, and follow Him in all areas. When you do, you must "walk ye in him" We must walk in the light of the love of God. As you start to truly follow Him, you'll grow in your faith and love for Him and for others. 

We read in verse 7, "Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." These, I believe, are the foundations to living the successful Christian life. We must be "rooted and built up in him." These two refer to growth. Getting back to my tomato plant illustration in yesterdays post unless the plant becomes rooted in the ground you planted it in, it will never be built up to produce a harvest. It's the same with our life in Christ. Unless we dig into the Word of God, allowing it to transform us into the people He wants us to be, we will never become rooted and will never produce a harvest in our lives. What a tragedy that will be. Are you planting your roots into the Word so you can grow into the person that Jesus wants you to be? The next two phrases are stablished and abounding. The word "stablished" means "strengthened." As we are rooted in the faith, our faith starts building up, we become strengthened in that faith. Our faith becomes stronger as we start following Jesus. "Abounding" means "overflowing." The result of being rooted, built up and strengthened in the faith is that we become overflowing with thanksgiving. We become thankful for all the things God has given us. Thankfulness becomes an important part of life. 

There is one more phrase in verse 7 that is vital. "as ye have been taught," Our faith gets rooted, built up and strengthened as we are taught the Word of God. This requires submission to the Spirit, because part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to teach you all things. John 14:26 says, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." The Spirit will teach you all things, and will bring them to your remembrance. Is your faith growing? Are you walking in Christ? Think About It.