“Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:7 NLT, second edition)
God wants you to focus on growing, sowing, and going in faith.
First, God wants you to grow in faith. He doesn’t want you to be a spiritual baby! The Bible says in Colossians 2:7: “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness” (NLT, second edition).
And, God wants you to sow in faith. He wants you to learn to become generous, because you cannot become like Christ without becoming generous. The Bible says, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV).
This is the law of sowing and reaping, and it’s true in every area of life. If you sow criticism, you’re going to reap criticism. If you sow love, you’ll reap love. If you sow kindness, you will reap kindness. And you always reap more than you sow. When you plant one corn kernel in the ground, you don’t get one kernel back. You get a whole stalk. You always get more back —positive or negative — of what you put out in life.
Then, God wants you to go in faith.
Hebrews 11:8 says, “It was by faith Abraham obeyed God’s call to go to another place God promised to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go” (NCV).
Would you do that? Abraham was up in years. He was in his retirement phase, just about to hang it up and settle down when God said, “No. Dust yourself off, and get ready for the greatest journey of your life.” When you live by faith, it involves going, often to places you were never planning to go.
Why is it so important for you to develop your faith?
Because everything that God does in your life he does by his grace and through your faith: “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6a NIV). “According to your faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29b). “Anything that is not done in faith is sin” (Romans 14:23b GW). Talk It Over
How have you grown in your faith in the last six months?
What would the people who are close to you say that you are sowing in your life?
Has God asked you to go somewhere in faith and you did not obey? What were the effects of your disobedience?
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And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
1 Peter 1:17-19
One of the great minds in the history of the world was Benjamin Franklin. During his life, he coined countless pithy statements that were packed with nuggets of truth. And one of my favorite quotes from Franklin is, “Doest thou love life? Then do not squander time, for time is the stuff life is made of.”
This statement reflects a very biblical truth: God has given each of us a certain number of minutes with which we’re able to make an impact in the world. Yet, many people squander their time here on earth and do nothing that is of significance for the Kingdom.
But the truth is that while we are here in the world (what today’s passage calls “exile”), God wants us to maximize our influence among others for the sake of the Kingdom. While many pursue riches that perish, we’re to pursue riches that will never perish… the things of Christ!
Every day you live is a gift from God. So as the Christmas decorations get ready to come down, get ready to step into the coming year renewed and recommitted to living your days to their fullest for the sake of Christ!
Maximize your life by making a real impact for Jesus Christ each and every day!
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