In todays world, talk is cheap.

I know that this is a saying that many of us has heard many times, but the truth is, that today, more than ever before in history, talk is truly inexpensive and easy to come by. Communication is so readily facilitated that it has become truly cheap in most cases. Today, most of us carry mobile phones which enable us to call anyone or be called by anyone at any time almost anywhere. In the United States, it has been estimated that 2.4 billion cell phone calls are made each day. Each day in the United States, 3.5 billion text messages are sent and received. And each day, over 294 billion email messages are sent each day. This means that 2.8 million emails are being sent each second of the day by the approximately 2 billion email users in the world. But what if talk were not cheap? What if, we still had to put a quarter into a pay phone, or write a letter with pen and paper in order to reach someone? Would we still spend limited time and resources to communicate what kind of sandwich we had for lunch as is so often done over facebook, or would we reserve our communication for more important discussions? These thoughts bring to mind a heart-wrenching story of a mother with young children whom she knew her terminal cancer would be stealing her from all too soon. As she struggled with the pain ravaging her body from the disease and the treatments she determined that her children would not grow up without benefit of her loving encouragement. A friend helped her to write letters for her children to read at all of the significant moments in their lives. She wrote letters for the first day of school, and their graduation from High School. There were letters for birthdays, and for the first dates. As you might imagine, this mother and her friend shared many tears together as this mom tried to pour out the love of a lifetime onto a few pieces of paper dressed in envelopes for her children. For teenagers that she would never know; for spouses that she would never meet. In a similar letter, Paul and his friend Timothy have no cheap words for the Colossians. In their letter to the Colossians, Paul and Timothy write passionately regarding the most important topic imaginable to a young church that they knew that they may never have the opportunity to visit. Although the church in

Colossae was reported to be one full of love in the Spirit (Colossians 1:1), Paul and Timothy seek to provide some counsel and guidance to this young, promising congregation. As the Apostle sent to the Gentiles, this church was one of Pauls children, and in reading this letter, it is not difficult to hear the tender heart of a grandfather explaining the essential truths of life to a grandchild that he understood that he might never meet. This is all well and good for Paul, but what does this mean to you and me? This means, that in the Book of Colossians, we have precious communication from the Apostle condensed into one letter all of his wisdom for this church. In reading these pages we have a glimpse of what Paul might have said to us if he had but one chance to spell out Gods wisdom to us in a letter. In this letter, Paul has no time for side issues and inconsequential debates. Paul immediately gets to the heart of the matter for the Colossians, and to the heart of the matter of our faith today. This is Christianity 101. Here we have Pauls manual on How to be a successful Christian in a nutshell. Pure. Simple. And above all, Practical. Lets Pray: Heavenly Father, as we turn to the study of Your word, please give us ears to hear as we look beyond all of the noise of this world and seek a glimpse of your pure and simple truths for our lives today. Lord we want you to change our hearts so that we may be all that you created us to be in Christ. Thank you, Lord, Amen. The content of Paul and Timothys message to the Colossians begins in verse 9 of Chapter 1. In verses 912 of Chapter 1, Paul reveals the standard s of our faith that we should seek to exemplify with our lives. These verses explain Paul and Timothys understanding of the answer to the question How then shall we live?. And then in verses 13-14, Paul boils down the answer as to why we should live that way, and how we can find the ability to do it. Before we get to their standards as to what is important in the Christian life, Paul and Timothy draw attention to their most fundamental principle of faith by being living examples. Verse 9 says that since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you Even though the message of

Colossians is important, Paul and Timothy saw prayer as more important than writing this letter. Only after praying for the Colossians continually did they engage in the ministry of communicating with the congregation. For those of us who are parents, praying for our children is much more effective and critical than anything else we could say to them or do for them. In prayer, we align our hearts with the heart of God and of our children so that when we do take action, our actions are empowered by the Spirit of God. Imagine the state of your relationships, and the state of our church if the church, beginning with you, would take the time to pray for people before we attempt to communicate with them! Do we pray for, and agonize over our children, our church members, our pastors or our neighbors before we offer words of counsel and advice? It is through prayer that our hearts are made tender with the love of God so that we can speak into the life of others on behalf of God. May Heaven forgive us for our prayerless ministries to our children, congregations and neighbors! We are the very ones who Paul spoke of in his second letter to Timothy chapter 3 where he says that There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. By their example, Paul and Timothy admonish us against cheap communication devoid of true power because of prayerlessness. For them, talk was far from cheap, and God is speaking to me and perhaps to some of you that we should stop offering to others so much sacrifice that costs us nothing. Prayer is the foundation of Pauls and Timothys ministry to the Colossians. In their prayers for the Colossians, 9 things surface in their prayers that serve as their wish-list for this young church. In other words, if Paul and Timothy could ask God for the ideal church filled with the ideal Christians, what would

this church and these people look like? What would be the identifying marks of believers like that? If you ever wanted to understand what your life as a Christian should look like then a close examination of this prayer boils down the practical essence of the Christian life for us. The first thing that they pray for is that the Colossians would have knowledge of Gods will. This is the minimum that a Christian needs in order to live out their faith. Throughout the Old Testament and the Gospels, God spent much of His time trying to teach people what His will for them was. Once He created the Jewish nation, he instructed them to be an example so that others might come to know His will for them. For the Christian, the primary means of discerning the will of God is through the Word of God. In other words, God has given us the ability to know His will through His Word, and if we dont know His Word, we cannot know His will. Being a Christian requires that we be in the Word of God. Sermons and Christian music are not enough. When I got married, as a young husband, I read several books about marriage, listened to wise teachers and enjoyed romantic songs. But I quickly learned that in spite of my best intentions, desires and the quality of the materials that I was exposing myself to, nothing even came close to the value of the simple act of investing myself in the actual words that my wife spoke. If listening to your spouse is essential to a marriage, listening to God through His word is much more so. Now the second part of verse 9 points out that knowledge of the will of God is more than simply understanding the words; it involves spiritual wisdom and understanding. Have you ever met or heard of someone who knew a lot of things, but didnt have the good sense that God gave a rock? Where they could rattle off facts and figures and in the end come up with conclusions that even a three year old could see was wrong-headed? Have you ever met a Christian who knew chapter and verse and all about the plan of salvation, and the love of God, and used that information to destroy the very souls that God was asking them to help save? In our quiet moments, when we reflect on all that we know and have been given by God, dont we all have a need to confess that we have at times been full of knowledge and devoid of the wisdom and understanding that God calls us to have?

One afternoon, my wife called me at work after she had been on call at the hospital all the night before, and most of the next day. I learned that she had finally had the chance to take a nap for a brief two hours, and that she had just called to make sure that I still was planning for her to pick up the kids from school. I knew that we had planned for her to pick them up that day, and her words indicated that she was planning to pick them up. But wisdom led me to read between the lines so that I would understand that she was testing the waters to see if there was any way that I could pick up the kids so that she could rest. Sometimes we need to listen to God in the same way. Yes the 2300 days is urgently important, but spiritual wisdom and understanding may indicate that the true will of God is that we feed the widow and the orphan before we try to teach them. I love how the New King James puts this next characteristic of the faith in verse 10. Walk Worthy of the Lord. I believe that the rest of verse 10 through verse 12 is a definition of what it means to walk worthy of the Lord. Paul often uses metaphors to illustrate aspects of our faith. This metaphor of walking is used three times in Colossians. Here in verse 10, he prays that the Colossians would walk worthy. In chapter 2:6 he admonishes them to walk according to what they have received from Christ. In Chapter 4:5, Paul tells the Colossians to walk in wisdom toward those who are outside the faith. In all of these cases, Paul is discussing not the physical act of walking, but the way we allow our spiritual condition to infuse our daily living. How we think, how we talk, how we interact with others. Our walk is our lifestyle. It is the expression of our true character with those who know us best. Lets take a look at these items that together comprise a Christian walk that is worthy of Him: The first aspect of a walk that is worthy is that the way we live our lives would be pleasing to God. Many people would say that they are doing pretty well in this category because they dont drink, they dont smoke, they are faithful to their spouse and they attend church. Many would go on to state that they do not mistreat others and generally stay out of trouble. An even smaller group would add in that they give a generous tithe and offering and participate in many community and church activities. Yet in Mark 10

we read the account of someone who was just like most of us in all of these regards and who failed to please God with his life. The rich young ruler went away sorrowful not because he was a bad guy. He went away sorrowful because he was unwilling to use his life to please God. Look at his question to Christ in verse 17: what must I do to inherit eternal life? His focus was on getting God to please him by giving him eternal life! His worldview was ultimately an epicurean one in which he was constantly calculation how much pleasure could be purchased for the amount of sacrifice and pain he was willing to endure. Christ responded to him that essentially, in order to please God, he had to abandon his efforts to achieve pleasure for himself. Is Christ suggesting that only by living in misery can we please God? Is this the only way to walk worthy of God? Not at all! You see, pleasing God has to do with why we live which then determines how we live. In Hebrews 11:6 we learn that without faith it is impossible to please God. So to live a life that is pleasing to God is to live according to faith. The young rulers life was based upon achieving pleasure for himself, not pleasing God. The question for us is whether pleasure is the rule by which we make our decisions, or faith! Lets take a moment to consider how we decided what church to attend, whether or not to attend church, what we would eat, with whom we would spend time, what we would do for entertainment, how we would respond to those who hurt us and what we would do at work. What is the basis for how we decide what we will do in these areas? If we are deciding based upon the knowledge that, as Heb. 11:6 that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him, then we are pleasing God. If were deciding based on getting as much pleasure and avoiding as much pain as possible, then were walking sorrowfully with the rich young ruler when we could choose differently and walk worthy in Christ. Paul and Timothy next pray that the Colossians would be fruitful in every good work. The call to be fruitful is an agricultural metaphor that was often employed by Christ and Paul. Christ states clearly

that he that abides in me and I in him bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing (John 15:5). Paul and Timothy are expressly praying that the Colossians and we will not rush out and try to do every good work, but that through abiding in Christ, knowing Him, living for Him and trusting in Him, that His Spirit will make our lives fruitful. Next, Paul and Timothy mention the increasing knowledge of God. This is different than knowing the will of God because we can know the will of a person without ever knowing the person themselves. And notice that it is significant that they say that we should be always increasing in our knowledge of God Himself. The assumption is made that we can know Gods will, that we can please Him in our walk, and so on. But no such assumption is made that we can actually know God completely. There is always more to know and love about God! In Selected Messages, Vol. 3, p. 126 Ellen White states that even just The plan of salvation, of which the incarnation is the very heart, is an exhaustless theme into which we may now look, and that will be the prime topic of study through the ceaseless ages of eternity.". In Galatians 5:22 we see that Paul notes that the fruit that we have is not really even our fruit, but rather the fruit of the Spirit Himself. It is His work, His effort, His Spirit that produces fruit, and not our effort! Paul and Timothys prayer essentially boils down to their desire that they be so connected to the Vine that the Spirit can produce His fruit through us. This understanding comports well with Ephesians 2:8 where Paul points out that it is through grace that we have been saved not of works The eighth characteristic of the ideal Christian is that they be strengthened with all might. The word strengthened is used in a couple of ways throughout the Bible. In one sense, it is used to denote the power to overcome an external adversary such as in Judges 3:12. In another sense, it is used to denote a summing up of courage, hope or confidence in the face of internal fear or weakness (1Sa 23:16, Act 15:32). Thus, we can understand that Paul was praying that these Christians, and that we would not be overcome through lack of hope, lack of faith or lack of confidence, but that we would be bold in our faith toward God and overcome the world for the sake of God. Perhaps God is asking you

today, what you would be able to do for the kingdom if you were to stop letting fear or lack of faith keep you from trying? If you knew that you could not fail, what would you attempt for God that He has been speaking to you about? What is that impossible obedience that makes you doubt God and doubt yourself? Are you willing to be strengthened with all might by God Himself so that you can become an overcomer with His help? Paul and Timothy return to the theme of the Spirit when they pray for patience and longsuffering with joy for these new believers. These are among the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5. Surely, as we seek to do great things for God, we must do so with patience, trusting God to bring forth fruit in His time. And surely, our service to Him should be expressions of Joy. You know, these aspects of walking worthy remind me of some Sunday mornings when my twin sons are off playing in their soccer league. There are times when the game is difficult, and sometimes they can get knocked down, you know. Sometimes the game or the practice is hard. There have been moments when they have been tripped, or bumped into another player and gotten a little bit banged up, and their team is not winning and they can get depressed. But you know what I tell them? I remind them that they are Pelote men. I tell them that we dont give up when things get difficult. I tell them that because they are Pelotes they were born to do their best, even when its hard and things are not going well. I tell them to walk worthy. And you know? When they get back in that game, and use the arms and legs that they were given by their mom and me, and they do what they have been trained to do, it just pleases me no end! It gives me so much joy to see my sons doing the things that a little boy was made to do! God is pleased with us when we choose to walk worthy of Him as well. In every one of these things that Paul and Timothy prayed for as the ideal characteristics of the Christian, knowing Jesus Christ was at the center of it all. You see, just like little boys with a ball, we were made to know Jesus Christ in a powerful way.

Just knowing and loving Christ through the Word will give us knowledge of His will Just knowing and loving Christ imparts wisdom and understanding Just knowing and loving Christ makes us pleasing to Him Just knowing and loving Christ allows and compels us fruitful through the Spirit Just knowing and loving Christ increases our knowledge of God Just knowing and loving Christ strengthens us for the battle! Just knowing and loving Christ produces patience and longsuffering in the face of challenges! Just knowing and loving Christ produces joy in the heart of the believer! Just knowing and loving Christ is the point of our lives and the heart of our faith! No wonder Paul and Timothy crown their prayer for ideal Christianity with a call for thankfulness! After all that He has given us, we have so much to be thankful for! All of these blessings are ours but they are all founded on the greatest gift of all which is Christ Himself. Paul and Timothy proclaim that God has delivered the believers from the power of darkness and qualified us for an inheritance that we would otherwise not deserve based upon the gift of Christ of his blood which allows us to be forgiven! Of course the Christian is thankful! Because of Christ we have gone from being in darkness to being in light From unqualified to qualified, from strangers to children of inheritance, from doomed to ransomed, from condemned to forgiven! John 1:1 tells us that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Word of God. That Word says that we have been forgiven and provided all that is needed for us to please God and to walk worthy of His name. But this was no cheap talk, no trivial word like so many words thrown around the world today. This Word was Jesus, the God who loves you, carefully, deliberately, lovingly taking your place on your cross so that you might live. Today we spend so much time and effort to skip over cheap words. We skip the commercials on our

television sets and we try to filter out unwanted emails. But sometimes, in our hurry, we miss important messages that we needed to hear. Sometimes we dont hear with wisdom and understanding the words of a spouse or a child. The precious message of Colossians is an urging for us to carefully attend to the Word of God. Dont miss what God has to say to you. Its what you were made for. In a world full of billions of messages sent and received every day, at the end of the day, its the only message you really need to hear. Spend some time listening today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYu8ZyETnKo