Colossians 2:6-7

In my last entry, I walked through what I am doing for my quiet time right now. I have been reading and studying through the book of Colossians. When I came to chapter 2, verses 6 and 7, I was immediately touched by the wording, wording that I wanted to describe my life, so I have been "parked" on these verses this week and I wanted to show you how I study one or two verses.


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


When I read those verses, I immediately thought, "That is exactly what I want for my life in 2011...and every year." I have received Jesus as my Savior and because he is my Savior, I have been called to walk in Him. I should be firmly rooted. I should be established in my faith because that is what He has instructed for believers to do. And because I am walking in Him, rooted in Him, and established in Him, my life should be OVERFLOWING with gratitude.

So I wrote the verse and this prayer in my prayer journal..."Lord, what a great verse to start the year with. Thank you for your Word. Thank you for salvation...for saving me, for grabbing my heart, for not letting go, for washing me clean, for walking with me every single day. You are enough for my life. Help me to walk in you every day."

I stopped and wanted to know what all my references said about the phrase "walk in Him". I found that the word walk is often used to describe the Christian life. It speaks of action and PROGRESS. You cannot walk and remain in the same place. So it is in the Christian life. I am either going forward in my relationship with Him or I am moving backward. This is a call to be active in my study of Him.


So, I stopped and prayed again..."Lord, I want to walk in you. I want to continually move forward in my relationship with You. Continue to impress upon my heart a desire to do just that, to grow and move forward with You."

The next phrase "having been firmly rooted" is something that I have talked about before. I have a desire to be firmly rooted, for my roots to grow deep, deep enough to hold me firm during the storms in life, and I continually desire to go deeper with the Lord. As I studied the verse though, the phrase "having been firmly rooted" is not talking about a continual growth process, but rather something that happened at the moment of my salvation. When I asked Jesus to come into my heart and to be my Savior, I was immediately firmly rooted in Him. Jesus Christ is the soil and my roots are buried in Him. I draw my nourishment from Him. The root is deep and it will hold firm. He will never let me go.

This portion of the verse led me to these verses...

*Matthew 13: 1-23...The parable of the soil

*Psalm 1:3..."be like a tree, firmly planted..."

*Ephesians 3:17..."being rooted and grounded in love..."

*Romans 11:16..."if the root is Holy, the branches are too..."

*John 15:1-17...the vine and the branches

Wow! Those verses are rich and gave me much to study and think about. Many of these pointed me back to the idea of growth in my Christian life, past the moment of salvation, and the fruit that my life should display because I am rooted in Him. So, I was led to pray again about the fruit in my life and the desire I have to see that fruit increase. (I won't share all my prayers, but you get the idea.)

The next phrase in my Colossians verse is this..."and now being built up in Him".

The symbolism switches to a building. Jesus is the foundation, and I am continually being built up in Him. He is the Rock of Ages, the Rock of my Salvation! I was rooted once and for all at the moment of salvation, but I am continually being built up in Him until the day of my completion. This idea led to more prayer and more verses to read.


*1 Corinthians 3:9-16..."we are God's building"

*Ephesians 2:20 ..."having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone..."

There are other verses, but I am just trying to give you an idea of what studying through your Bible might look like.

To wrap it up, there are two more phrases in my Colossians verse.... "established in my faith" and "overflowing with gratitude".

In my Christian walk, I am continually being established in my faith, a process that will continue throughout my entire life. But, what am I being established in? 2 Peter 1:5-9 talks about the characteristics that I should be growing in: moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly love, and kindness. These qualities should be ever increasing, growing, just as a plant continually grows. My life is a building in process, being built up stone by stone. I want these things to be true of my life so I will be fruitful for the kingdom and strong for the body of Christ. There is a lot to pray about here.

And lastly, my life should constantly be overflowing with gratitude because of the work of Jesus Christ in me. This thought led to repentance because despite all that I have been given, I don't thank God enough or remain in a place of continually gratitude. My heart should be so captivated with love for Jesus and the marvelous truths of the gospel, that my heart overflows in praise throughout the day....uh, that's not happening.

Well, I hope that helps someone.

The Bible is rich and speaks to the individual, but you have to make the time to mine its riches just as a miner digging for gold.

Until next time...