Seeds for 1/25/2023 - Colossians 1:21
Scripture: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.”
Observation: Most if not all peoples and cultures have had a sense that there is both good and evil in the world. Most wrestle with the question of where evil comes from. Christianity’s answer is that alienation from God is the problem. The solution is reconciliation with God. For now, we must pause and reflect on the problem.
“Enemies” is a strong word, but since it simply means someone who is opposed to another, it’s an apt word for human beings—us—who insist on having our way and doing things our way, rather than desiring and trusting God’s way. This basic orientation of the heart away from God has been the root of all sorts of evil in the world.
The last phrase makes an interesting connection: “were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” Paul makes a connection between how we behave on one hand and how we think or what we believe on the other. We conceive of belief leading to behavior, and that’s certainly true. But this verse seems to suggest the influence goes in both directions—behavior can shape our beliefs. Once we do something that our belief system—about God, about morality and ethics, etc—says is wrong, don’t we start to doubt our standards a little? Or justify why something was right in this case, or not as big of a deal after all? Paul knows that not only do our thoughts lead to good or bad behaviors, our behavioral choices can also lead us to true or false beliefs—what we’d like to be true more than what is.
Application: When have I made excuses to myself rather than properly dealt with spiritual conviction? How do my choices reinforce or shift my thinking or beliefs?
Prayer: Lord, keep me walking the way of Christ, that I may mature and grow in having the mind of Christ. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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