What Keeps You Afloat When The Storms Hit?

Colossians 1:1–8
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As Alexander the Great was setting out on his conquest of Asia, he inquired into the finances of his followers. To ensure that they would not be troubled over the welfare of their dependents during their absence, he distributed crown estates and revenues among them. When he had t … More

Hope

“Paul, an apostle by the will of God” (v. 1) writes this letter when he is near the end of his service for Christ. Almost 30 years have passed since his conversion. Of his sixty odd years, less than half of them have been spent as a Christian. This is one of the prison letters of the apostle, It was written to “the saints and faithful brethren” in a church located in Colossae (v. 2) which is now called Turkey, in the Roman province of Asia Minor, about 100 miles south and east of Ephesus. It is primarily a letter of hope: the hope that comes by means of the gospel: in contrast to the hopelessness of the world in his day. The Colossians had been hopeless but they had found hope. And with it they found two other enormously valuable commodities, called faith and love (vv. 3-4).

Faith and love spring forth from the hope that every believer has in Christ. It is a hope that is founded upon the promises of Christ as the living Word found in God’s written Word (v. 5). It is also a hope that is continually lived and proclaimed bearing fruit throughout the world (v. 6). Hope keeps us afloat when the storms hit. The boat will not sink because Jesus is in the boat with us. Perhaps, the most neglected truth among Christians is to look for human help, forgetting that God’s help is instantly available to me. It seems that we do not want invisible help and even become angry and resentful if human help is not available. However I believe God will sometimes deliberately deny us human help in order that we may learn how much greater is the help waiting for us from His invisible kingdom.

Application

I need to discipline myself to be a fruit bearing Christian? It is so easy to keep busy doing good things and do nothing that will count for eternity.

Colossians 1:1-8 (English Standard Version)

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