This is what I took away from this past Sunday morning service…
We looked at Colossians 1: 1-8:
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people…”
This is one of Pauls many letters. We noticed that he started out with a time of thanks, and the first think he was thankful for was the people’s faith. This is something that I never would have thought to have any importance but…
Paul is thankful for other peoples faith in God, that’s amazing to think about! Although I’m constantly thinking about how to spread the word of God, I have never thought to be thankful for those who do have faith.
Furthermore, if you are like me and have known God for as long as you can remember… if you were saved when just a little kid… you might feel like your testimony is unimportant. I hear stories of people who went through terrible things and were at a really bad place in life and then they come to know God and their lives are changed! Those stories are incredible, and my story seems rather boring comparatively. So people like me tend to downplay their testimony.
But listen, however it may have happened, you came to know God! You were in darkness before and now you are saved! That is not something to downplay, in-fact, that is the most important thing. You should always be thankful for your own faith.
Lastly, when Paul writes this, he knows the cost of faith. In Biblical times, Christians often were getting persecuted for their faith, so for these people to be keeping their faith is a miracle! Today, Christian persecution isn’t as prevalent… however, our faith does cause us to make sacrifices. Maybe we can’t do what our friends are doing, we can’t accept that one job offer, or we have to give up our comfort to serve others… living with this faith requires us to give up these things. We should be thankful when people still have faith through it all.
The Branches 