NT75 Day 40: Colossians

Day 40!  Way to go!  Keep reading and keep growing.  And don't let the Enemy discourage you.

As I understand the spiritual life, it can be summed up in Paul's pithy statement in Colossians 2.6:  just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.  In other (less inspired words), I walk with Christ in the same way I received Christ - I continue my relationship with Him the same way I began it.

And there's a huge question hanging and waiting to be asked.  I'll go ahead and ask it:  how did I receive Christ?  Answer:  by grace through faith.  So I walk with Christ by grace through faith like I received Christ by grace through faith.  But what does that mean?

Some people equate grace with forgiveness and thus miss this all together.  Grace does have a forgiveness component, but it's more about God's help.  Grace is what God gives us when we can't do something on our own.  Reducing it to forgiveness dishonors God and sets us up where we can trust God for heaven (because forgiveness is ours through faith) but can't trust God to help us raise our kids, not get angry on the highway, love our spouses well, manage money, finish the NT75 Day Challenge, or any other thing that's "normal" in life.  We have to do all of that on our own.  Hopefully it's obvious that God doesn't want that nor do we.  Grace is help.

Instead, we are in the continuous process of opening ourselves up to God and asking Him to help us do what He wants us to do.  We turn to Him daily and throughout the day to get help to manage our calendars and pocketbooks and relationships and conversations and drives home.  It keeps us praying.  It keeps us holding on to His promises.  It keeps us open.  Our being open is crucial to growth.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...