How do we do this?

Colossians 1:15-23, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in Him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He Himself is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross. And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him—provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.”

Our eternity is secured through Jesus Christ. As Paul systematically explains, God’s love and grace through the redeeming act of His Son Jesus Christ gave us new birth. Jesus is the New Adam. Reconciliation of our broken selves back to God is all that God has ever desired and it took God’s startling act of grace in Incarnation, suffering death and resurrection for us each to have a Way back to Him. Jesus Christ is the only Way back to God. It is our obligation to God that we remain strong in our practice of faith through prayer, Biblical study, worship, Christian conferencing, tithing and service.

What do we do each day that doesn’t bring glory to God in our practice of faith? Those things divert attention away from God and are idolatrous. We should begin our day in prayer with a thanks be to God for the day that wasn’t promised and pray for God’s guidance that this day will be a day blessed in His holy will. We must spend time each day with God’s holy history in humanity and His holy purpose for our lives as provided us in the Bible – in short we need to study God’s Word. Once even twice a week we should come together in a community of faith to worship God together. From that experience in worship our attending to small groups within the church allows us to have Christian conference or conversation with others thereby strengthening our own practices in faith and learning what others do each day. We must give the first tenth of our harvest to God – it’s His. And yes, God expects us to live and labor in His Creation doing so with a joyful and servant heart. Living our lives in service to God means that we also serve one another – minister to one another. We do all these things as a response in faith to what God has done through Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Father, you have given us so much that our efforts to say ‘thank you’ seem inadequate. We thank you and praise you continually for what You did through Jesus Christ to reconcile us back to You. Guide us through this day. See to it that we stay Your course in Your Will and in Your love. In the redeeming Name of Jesus we pray. AMEN!