Now walk - Colossians 2:6-7

"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude." (Colossians 2:6-7)

Christianity is more than a decision. It is more than a conversion that takes place at a single point and time in your life. Being born again is more than something you do and then move on. If all that has happened to you is that you have been saved, then you have yet to even begin your new life in Christ. Christianity is a process that begins at our conversion and continues throughout our entire life (an possibly even into the life to come).

Paul uses both the metaphor of a plant and a building to describe our Christian experience. As plants we are as seeds planted in Christ. He is our beginning and the soil from which we draw our nourishment. As we grow up, our roots extend down and entangle the soil we are planted in. Our lives extend further and further into Christ and He becomes more essential to everything we do, In the end, though we flower for all to see, He has become our all-in-all; the one who sustains us, nourishes us, stabilizes us, and keeps us from being washed away by the rain.

As a building, Christ is both our foundation and our corner stone. He is the foundation upon which we build. Our lives will only be as fruitful as the quality of the foundation we maintain. A tall building cannot be built upon a weak foundation and, if we hope to build a great life, we too need a strong and secure foundation. This foundation is no other than the person of Jesus Christ. However, He is also our corner stone; the stone from which all other stones are judged. The trueness of our life is measured by our relationship to the corner stone. One's life may look straight and true, but when compared with the sure corner stone of Jesus, our departures and deviations become clear. We must not judge ourselves by the world around us but only by the sure life of Christ.

The primary instrument for growing us from seed to plant and from foundation to a high-rise building is instruction. Paul places a high priority on teaching for it is what instructs us how to live and guides us as we grow. However, instruction must be more than mere information, it requires our devotion and obedience to reap its benefits in our lives. If we head Christ's instruction we will grow in assurance of our faith and always abound in thankfulness to God and gratitude towards one another.

So here is Paul's point; seeing you have received Christ, keep walking in Him! Some people wait for life to come to them, others engage it. I have known some who have grown weary in their walk with the Lord and have sat down, waiting for the blessings of the Kingdom to come to them. However, often the blessings are found as we walk along the way. It is written that, "And the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." (Isaiah 35:10) The Hebrew word for "find" can also be translated as "over-take." Most often the gladness and joy we seek must be overtaken as we walk along the path. God has joy and other blessings for us if we will just continue to walk until we overtake them along the way. What do you seek in life? Keep walking with Jesus and you will find all the good you seek.

David Robison