OCT 4

Colossians 1:5-6
Memorise Colossians 1:5
“…hope that is laid up for you in heaven...”

The gospel brings hope for sinners who have believed in Christ as their Lord and Saviour, the hope that they will be delivered from the wages of death, and upon leaving this life will thus rest from their labours forever in heaven. The word “laid up” in verse 5 has the idea of being reserved, that no one can snatch it away. The hope that the Colossians had was one that was reserved for them in heaven. They were thoroughly convinced of this hope because it came “in the word of the truth of the gospel”. We see here that in order to have this same hope, we must have the full truth of the gospel. There are many religions that suggest various forms of afterlife, but only the gospel is true. Anyone that preaches heaven without pointing to Jesus as the only way, is not preaching the truth, but only giving false hope. Some so-called preachers of the gospel do preach Jesus, but they leave out some very important truths concerning His death or resurrection, or of man’s sin and the need for repentance. In so doing, they miss out parts of the truth of the gospel, and are not really preaching the gospel at all! Only the full truth of the gospel brings us hope, and gives us the certainty that there is a place in heaven reserved for us.

That is why the only way to preach the gospel is to preach the truth of God’s Word, and let the Holy Spirit convict hearts that what they are hearing is true. Any other method will have some degree of error and will not lead to salvation. As a teen, you might fear that others will scorn you for your youth and inexperience, skeptical that you can be so sure of the afterlife when you are still not past the second decade of this earthly life. You might be concerned about your lack of eloquence, compared to others who are so convincing in their speech. Dear teen, remember that you are sharing the absolute truth of God’s word, and not your opinion or any other man’s theory. Indeed, knowing you are being a witness for the gospel should be encouraging to us, for when we are a witness for anything else, we always have some fear that what we are witnessing for is wrong in some way. In preaching the gospel, we can have confidence knowing that we are speaking only the absolute truth of Christ as given in His infallible Word. Is this what you are doing with your life?

Thought: Why am I afraid of being a witness of the truth?
Prayer: May I strive to hear my Lord say, well done, thou good and faithful servant.