Colossians 4

Similarly to how it began, Colossians ends with Paul reminding God’s people of prayer and encouragement. Paul shares that he is praying for the Colossians, even while he is in prison and hasn’t officially met them in person. He also asks them to pray for himself and others in prison and that God would continue to pave a way for the Gospel to reach the lost. There are three key thoughts that I want to focus on and those are: following through, sharing for a lifetime, and being the church.

Paul makes sure to give the church of Colossi instruction on how to live toward each other but does so in an encouraging and loving way. He addresses how Onesimus, a servant, is a brother and one of them, to be treated the same (v. 9). He addresses how they are to treat outsiders as Jesus did and the importance of having gracious speech (v. 5-6). Paul is following through with his instruction and encouragement from the first chapter of Colossians to the last. He addresses each topic that he is aware of and asks them to follow through with these instructions along with praying for him as he prays for them. I imagine that the church reading this letter felt a sense of accountability knowing that Paul is praying for them while in prison and taking the time to write an encouraging letter to them. 

Paul’s imprisonment also reflects God’s purpose for us to share for a lifetime. No matter where we live, where we work, or what stage of life we are in, there are always lost people around us. And if you aren’t experiencing lostness then pray and ask God to reveal where and who he is leading you toward. Even while in prison, Paul is praying for opportunities to share about the good news we have in Jesus! In fact his experience in prison is “really serv[ing] to advance the Gospel” (Philippians 1:12). Throughout our life the people we share with might change, but we should never think that our time is done. Until God takes us home, He still has a purpose for us here on earth.

The best part is that God doesn’t ask for us to follow through with His plans or share with others alone, but together. Jesus asks us to be the church and “the church” by definition is a group of people living for Christ. That means all people who follow Christ! Your grandma, your biology partner, your 40 year old neighbor, and the people all the way across the world that follow Christ are the church. God designed us to be unified and work side by side for His glory. He created us with different cultures, ethnicities, male and female, different talents, personalities and so on, yet we are one in Christ (Galatians 3:28).

So together let’s be the church, living out God’s mission for our lives to love Him and love others.