1. What stood out to you from this chapter?
As I came to verses 6-7 in this chapter, the language of being rooted and built up in Christ cast an image of a tree into my mind. Just as a tree draws its nourishment through its roots from the soil and water around it, so we too draw our life and nourishment from Christ. We do so when we let our roots go down deep. It's much like the title of my blog - namely that we would dig down deep into our relationship with God in Christ Jesus, rather than being like a plant with shallow roots that withers, scorches, and blows over in the wind. Not only do we find life in Christ, we find "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (v.3), "all the fullness of the Deity" (v.9), resurrection from the dead (v.11-12), forgiveness of sins (v.13), freedom (v.16-23). But all of these promises are only made true through Jesus. Notice how many times the words "in Christ" or "with Christ" or "in him" appear in this passage. They are connected to almost every one of these promises. I thought that was interesting.
2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?
Verse 6-7 sparked an image of my life as a tree, but there are other images of trees in the Bible that stand out in my memory. One of the most similar is from Psalm 1. The whole book of Psalms (which is a worship songbook) begins with an image of a tree. It states that those who love and follow God and his commands are like trees planted by streams of water who yield fruit and don't wither. It's another reminder to let our roots run down deep in God.
3. So what does this mean for my life?
I think this metaphor of a tree can have all kinds of practical applications. We talk about our roots running deep, but what does that mean. I think there are several ways to stay connected to God, the life-giving Father. They may seem elementary, but they are good, and we often dismiss the elementary and end up stuck in spiritual pre-school.
- Prayer - Since Jesus is our great high priest, he will mediate our conversation with God. We can talk to God ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, about ANYTHING. We don't even have to fold our hands and bow our heads. It doesn't matter "how far gone" you think you are, God is a patient loving father who is dying to hear from you. And while you're praying, don't forget to listen too. :)
- Read the Bible - You want to get to know God and Jesus better? Read the Bible. It contains a wellspring of wisdom, truth, and insight into God's character. It will change your life if you let it. That's what this blog is all about, to create an accountability system that works for me and gets me digging into Scripture daily.
- GO TO CHURCH - We live in a day where we feel like we can just do faith and life by ourselves. Who needs church when I can just stream it live and don't actually have to encounter other living people? I can read the Bible and pray by myself, why should I go to church? Because YOU DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING!
- Share your faith - "What? Talk about Jesus to someone other than my church friends or small group?" This puts almost every one of us outside of our comfort zone. We don't always know what we're doing. We rarely have time to plan it out let alone practice it. So we don't know what's going to happen. It requires...well...faith. It's weird to think that by sharing our faith we can grow in our own.
4. What questions do I have about this passage?
Verses 16-23 talk about not worrying anymore about some of the Jewish rules and customs and finding freedom in Christ. Specifically it mentions rules about eating (and not eating) certain things, as well as observing specific festivals and calendar days. My question is, "What rules from the old testament do and don't apply anymore?
That's all folks. :) Tomorrow (Christmas Eve) I'll do Colossians 3-4, and take Christmas off.
In Christ,
Dan
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