So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6 – 7)
Such a simple task once you’ve learned how to do it. Walking, that is. As a baby, it’s the thing no parent wants to miss. From the moment the babe has leg strength, they are stood up to strengthen little leg muscles. Little ankles are pumped back and forth to simulate the motion of crawling, in a hopeful prerequisite to taking steps. Then the day comes when the precious one pulls up to a standing position and the overwhelming joy and cheers exude claps and cheers. Arms outstretched, we beckon and challenge the baby to continue the growth process and take a step. Just one step, not across the floor, but just close enough to fall into the arms of the closest loved one. Walk baby, please walk!
Babes in Christ look just like this. Only those who feel they have mastered the finesse of walking right criticize those who still stumble and fall in their walk. Only the pious and haughty have forgotten the fear of the first steps followed by numerous slips and trips before landing soundly into the outstretched arms of love. We forget until we fall ourselves, which is inevitable the longer we live. But falling is not a “failure”. Failure occurs when we refuse to get up. When we refuse to try again and resolve ourselves to defeat. Treasures are buried because no one picked them up. Don’t get buried in pain, sorrow, disappointment, or failure. Trust that your foundation won’t crack by the force of your fall. Get up.
Walk again in Christ. Firmly-rooted – ivy vines are the hardest to eradicate from a yard. Why, because if you leave a tendril, it remains hidden until by divine nurturing it burrows deeper and grows a new root system often stronger and more far-reaching than the previous. It reemerges in a new place with fresh vigor and strength.
John 15 1 -2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. A fall is simply a pruning, not a severing.
Be built up in Christ. The building is precept upon precept. It is a layer of truth on layers of truth. It is standing with support, then standing by pulling up, and finally gaining the confidence to take a step forward and towards a goal. God is actively at work building us up. It is not a haphazard construction, but purposeful and deliberate. We, you & me, were carefully chosen as part of His design. Though His chiseling may feel rough, when He is finished, our shape, our experiences, our lives, and our testimonies will give glory to His workmanship. Don’t refuse the design because it alters your plans, submit it to the builder. It becomes far more beautiful than any design constructed in our finite minds. I Peter 2:5 “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Remain established in your faith. So many ways to wander and so many pathways are presented each day that keeping the faith might seem difficult. It is not. It only becomes hard when we are not resolute in what we believe. My earthly father stated, “Daughter, buy the truth and don’t sell it.” Buy the truth? “
Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.” (Proverbs 23.22-23).
Yes, buy your truth. “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8) Experience God, allow Him to speak to you, to show you that He is trustworthy and true. Burrow deep and search out His goodness, allowing yourself to be wooed by His kindness. Be still and sense His peaceful presence. Then, look around at those who are chasing other gods, other things, other lust, and pleasures. Resist the temptation to settle for ritualistic religion over a personal relationship. “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” (Col. 2:18 – 19.)
Remember the instructions. It seldom matters who teaches you to walk, because once you learn the fundamentals, you normally take yourself to places. Except in catastrophic events, this fundamental is mastered from one step to a full jog. So too with progression in Christ. Remember how to walk and then run the race set before you. “I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding.” (Psalms 119:32) Be reminded that faith is not just intellectual prowess, but confident trust in God and His promises. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15)
Remember the truth and refuse to be swayed by promises of an easier journey. Be wary of glittering entanglements. “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31 – 32)
“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.” (Psalm 62:8)
Overflowing with gratitude. Happiness is not joy. Joy is deep and remains despite circumstances. Joy radiates inside and is the calm reassurance that God is still in control and that He both sees and knows where, what, and why we are in this place right now. It is a present knowing that gives us the ability to say, “Thank you ABBA.”
I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart. (Psalm 9:1)
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
Ephesians 3:16 – 19 sums up my desire each day for our daily walk: “I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Amen