Bearing Fruit

Can you believe that today is the first day of July?! Where did the last six months go? Time has definitely flown by very quickly.

As the financial year comes to an end, it is the perfect time to reflect on how the past six months have been.

For me, consistency in reading God's word is still something I struggle with. It's easy for me to put other things above God when I am busy or stressed.

So this month, we're going to be doing a reset and go back to what is important. We're going to dig deep into the Book of Colossians chapter by chapter and practice the art of sitting still, not being distracted and meditating on God's word.

Here we go, Colossians 1.

Colossians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

² To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— ⁵ the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel ⁶ that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. ⁷ You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, ⁸ and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, ¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

²¹ Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²² But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³ if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

²⁴ Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. ²⁵ I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— ²⁶ the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. ²⁷ To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸ He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. ²⁹ To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

It was hard reading God's word today. It felt like I was chewing on cardboard, forcefully tugging at it with my teeth.

I had intentionally chosen a shorter book in the New Testament to help me get back into the routine of consistently reading my Bible. To say it was overwhelming seems like an understatement. It felt dense even for the short book it is.

Below I've included some tips I've learnt from those around me, which help me stay grounded in the passage before I jump to interpretation. Hopefully it will also help you feel more confident and comfortable as you read God's word.

Tip #1: Look out for repeated words and phrases

Some of the repeated words in this passage: gospel, Jesus Christ, bearing fruit and mystery.

Tip #2: Ask yourself what stands out to you and what questions you have

I was intrigued by this concept of bearing fruit especially. It's used twice in this passage:

1. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. (v 6)
2. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, (v 9-10)

The gospel bears fruit in our lives.

On the first point, the passage tells us that Epaphras taught the people in Colossae the gospel.

And what is this gospel that they're talking about?

• In v 5, it is 'the hope stored up for you in heaven' which the people had already heard in the true message of the gospel.
• In v 6, it's referred to as God's grace. Grace means a gift that is given to an individual that they don't deserve.
• I think v 13 captures the gospel message pretty well. 'For he (God) has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.'

When these people heard it and truly understood it, it bore fruit in their lives in the form of faith and love. Their faith in Jesus and love for God's people caused them to live and act in an obvious way that was noticeable to those around them. So much so that Paul and Timothy give thanks to God for this when they pray for them.

The gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world.

Paul and Timothy offers an analogy between how the gospel is bearing fruit in the people's lives and how it is bearing fruit throughout the whole world.

If I'm honest, sometimes it feels like this is not true. For those of us who call ourselves Christians, sometimes our lives are no different to those around us. Where is the fruit the gospel is supposed to bear in our lives?

And is the gospel really bearing fruit throughout the whole world? If we're only accounting for Australia, data from the 2021 Census in Australia showed us that 'for the first time, fewer than half of Australians identified as Christian'.

I know my generalisations here don't account for the world's population, nor are they an accurate representation of all that is happening around me but as I read this passage, these were some of the questions and thoughts that came to mind. I may not have the answers to these questions but I don't need to hide away from them or pretend they don't exist. I think it's a healthy way of dealing with the questions and doubts that come to mind.

Live a life worthy of the Lord.

On the second point, 'bearing fruit in every good work' is one of the ways you can live a life worthy of the Lord. As to what defines 'a good work', I have to say that I'm not too sure. Will have to get back to you on that point.

I was also really intrigued by how Paul and Timothy pray for the people of Colossae. It's super interesting that they are asking God to fill them with the 'knowledge of his will' and this happens through 'the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives'. And remembering the purpose is 'so that (they) may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way'.

When I think about living a life worthy of the Lord, it's easy to want to do so in my own strength. But if you look at the passage, this happens with God's help. Paul and Timothy understand this, which is why they are coming to Him in prayer. His Spirit gives us the wisdom and understanding to live in such a way that is worthy of God. Let's stop trying to do things in our own strength and come to Him in prayer. Only He can give us the wisdom and understanding we need.