Seeds for 2/3/2023 - Colossians 1:29

Scripture: “To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.”

Observation: “To this end…” Paul is aiming his efforts at moving everyone to full maturity in Christ. That’s the point, that’s the picture of the future he has in view.

What I see today is one of the persistent questions and seeming paradoxes in the Christian life. We could put it something like this: Who is really doing this work—me or Christ? Paul says both “I strenuously contend” and “Christ so powerfully works in me.” So, Paul is exerting all the effort he can muster and Christ is working powerfully in him. Is Paul trying to have it both ways?

Well, perhaps he is. And maybe he’s right. It isn’t that Paul is only a passive conduit. But it’s also not the case that Paul is working hard in hopes that God, who sits back on the throne and watches, will see how much he is doing for Him. Instead, Paul taps into “all the energy” that Christ supplies in order to do the work of Christ. And Christ is not just providing Paul with a super-charged divine battery pack and then leaving it up to him. No, “Christ so powerfully works” all that energy in Paul—”works,” as in present ongoing action. And Paul applies himself “strenuously” to divine work with divine resources. Maybe it’s like a fire fighter and a fire hose. The hose, with water turned on, is the thing with the extraordinary power to accomplish the goal of putting out the fire. And the fire fighter must “strenuously contend” with the battle at hand, wielding this power faithfully and effectively according to their charge.

So, is it Paul working hard or Christ supplying the power? Both!

Application: Am I more likely to strike out to serve Christ on my own power or sit back and assume He’s doing it through me without much cooperation on my part? What divine work is He calling me to and equipping with divine power for?

Prayer: Lord, powerfully supply your energy and work within me according to the work you’ve called me to. Lead me to give my all to be faithful. Amen.

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“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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