United and Delighted

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE COLOSSIANS

UNITED AND DELIGHTED

Col 2:1-5

2:1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

NIV

We should first deal with this idea of Paul struggling for them and that they had yet to ever actually meet him in person. It might be more accurate to translate the Greek word as anguish then struggle, as the idea seems to be Paul anguished with God over them because of the false teachers who were stirring up conflict over the truth of the gospel. These false teachers might be the same who he struggled with in his letter to the Galatians, those who wanted Gentiles to be circumcised like Jews in order to be Christians. If this anguish or struggle with God over them is the right way to see this as the context would suggest, the reason he prayed so fervently for them was so they would be encouraged in heart and united in love. This should be the way the church lives today. We should always be encouraged in our hearts, or perhaps we should say that we should be about encouraging each other’s hearts as well as striving to be united as we love each other. There is nothing worse in a church than dissension or division. That type of attitude or behavior will tear a church apart. They are nothing more than one of the schemes of the devil. Gospel is one of the main tools used by the dissenter, who is doing just the opposite of encouraging and uniting others in love. The whole reason we need to be united in love is so we may have the full riches of complete understanding. If we are divided in our beliefs, in our theology, in our faith, how can we ever come to a complete understanding? How can we enjoy that richness of knowing the mystery of God, namely Christ? If we are always arguing over the minutia or tertiary ideas within the scripture, we might well be missing the whole of the truth of being united in love. When we encourage each other in love and are thus united in our faith, we can come to that place of enjoying the full riches of complete understanding. We can know the mystery of God, the fullness of Christ in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When we get the truth about Jesus, it does not matter what those false teachers say with their silver tongues, their smooth talk. Paul had to deal with that kind in those days and we still are dealing with these silver-tongued spreaders of falsehoods today. There are too many who seem to make a business of the gospel, making it their tool for success, for personal gain. No, we should be about our Father’s business, which is uniting the church, bringing them together under the truth of Christ. This should be our goal, even among those we are not with personally. As Paul says that although he is absent with them in the body, he is present with them in the spirit, we should feel that same with about those we are apart from physically. In some way, our personal hope is that those who travel this path with us, reading the scriptures and our thoughts are encouraged and united in the faith in love. This unity which brings us complete understanding and the wisdom and knowledge of Christ gives us the strength to stand firm against those dissenters, those who would divide us or tear us apart. There is so much benefit to be united in spirit and to be delighted with each other.