Colossians 1:19-23
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
Are you sure about that, God?
Up above, Paul is reinforcing the fact that God did it all. After we truly confess our sins, we're saved and right with God. No ifs, ands, or buts! God already forgot whatever we apologized for. He doesn't keep a record. However, it is so hard for us to grasp that. Very much myself included. Sometimes when I think about things that I've done that I know probably made God sick to His stomach, I feel like I could get sick, too. It never fails that there's a little voice on the inside that whispers "that's over with" and "you're a new creation" and "no longer I but Christ in me"...but it's hard to grasp those things when you've already let yourself feel that sting of guilt. When this happens to me, often I find myself (literally) repeating over and over in my head that "that was the old me" and "the Lord is my strength". It gets me through, and slowly I'm starting to actually believe those things. Maybe believe isn't the right word...I know that I've been forgiven and I'm different. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that I'm actually starting to have faith that those statements apply to me.
"Stand firmly...Don't drift."
God says what he means, he doesn't have any "scratch that" moments. So why don't we take him at His word? Not once has He lied or broken a promise. Stand firmly, don't drift...
"But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News."
It almost feels as if Paul is pleading with the Colossians to remain faithful. I'd dare say God is pleading with us to remain faithful, too. I wonder what it would feel like to trust God with reckless abandon...to just make a decision in myself to have faith in what He says is true. I think standing firmly isn't always an emotional high of "I believe God so much right now and I'm blameless and everything is going to be GREAT!", even though there's not much necessarily wrong with that. But it's easy to trust God when you're all stirred up and see His presence everywhere you turn. What about the times your past is attacking you and people are mocking you and you can barely hear God whispering "I'm still here,"?......."But you MUST continue to to believe this truth and STAND FIRMLY ON IT." We have to be faithful; we have to share that same unwavering devotion God has for us. And the great part is, he knows we'll mess up sometimes, but "If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is." -2 Timothy 4:6-8.
Anyone can follow and trust God in the good times. Anyone with even a mustard seed of faith can trust Him in the bad times, too. You don't have to be a special kind of person with extraordinary strength. When you are afraid, feeling guilty, anything, take a step of faith and say "I believe what You declare over me, Lord." Then, get your bible out and remind yourself of the love and promises God has for you. I find that the remedy for my falling short is always God. I'm talking to myself here, too yall. We've just got to stop and have faith.
"Faith is seeing light with your heart when all your eyes see is the darkness ahead." -Unknown
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