JUL 7

Colossians 1:7-11
Memorise Philippians 3:13
“…do not cease to pray for you...”

ARE YOU COMPLACENT?

The natural reaction of anyone in Paul’s shoes when hearing about the good report about the Colossians would be to simply rejoice and praise God, as he did in verse 5, but Paul did not stop there, but from verse 9-11 prayed earnestly that the Colossians continue towards spiritual maturity. Here he reinforced the importance of the Colossians not being complacently satisfied of their testimony so far, and instead continuing to walk close to God, and being strengthened for the inevitable trials that they will face. Indeed, chapter 2 will speak about certain issues that the church had to maturely tackle. The double emphasis in both verses 3 & 9 that Paul continually prayed for the Colossians reminds us that continuing towards maturity is a constant spiritual battle that requires constant prayer and reliance on God.

When we see things are smooth sailing in our walk with the Lord, it is so easy for us to think we can congratulate ourselves and simply maintain what we are doing. Instead, we should remember it is important to strive towards spiritual maturity, which is something even the apostle Paul always knew he himself had not yet achieved (Philippians 3:13). The minute we stop growing, we are in danger of backsliding. In such complacency, any trial that will cause our hearts to feel the trial is too hard to handle will cause us to backslide even further. In our Christian walk, we cannot be standing still; we must either be pressing upwards, or we will be in a spiritual decline. Pray that God will enable you to constantly abound in your spiritual lives. Also, when we read of the good reports of other churches, do pray that they will likewise continue on to spiritual maturity, instead of simply assuming that they do not have any prayer needs.

Thought: Am I complacent in my Christian walk?
Prayer: May I always be moving forwards in my walk, not backwards.