At the church where I serve, there are many committees that meet to see to the work of the church. It is easy for these committees to get so busy with the work they have before them that the members forget their first order of business: to be Christ to each other.

So, it was suggested that as we begin another fall season and get busy with the work of the church, perhaps I could use this little blog of mine to write some devotionals. The intent is that they will be used at the beginning of meetings to set a spiritual tone for the work that is done there.

Here we go!

¹⁶ Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.
Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives.
Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
¹⁷ And whatever you do or say,
do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:16-17 NLT

Many people have many definitions of what it means to call yourself a Christian. Some would point to doctrines that must be believed. Others to activities that must be undertaken. And still others to rituals that must be observed. But I have always believed that as Christians – followers of Jesus – our call is to embody the good news.

Not just to believe it. Not just to think about it. Not just to study it. Not just to love it. Not just to work for it. Not just to ritualize it.

But to embody it, to live it out. To become vessels of the good news and to pour it out on all whom we meet, only to find ourselves filled up again by the love of Jesus. I think that is what Paul is getting at as he writes this letter to the Colossians. We are to let the message about Christ – his life, death and Resurrection which freed us forever from the bonds of sin and death – fill our lives.

Everything we do is meant to be an act of worship. Everything we say is meant to be said as though we were the only representative of Jesus Christ (after all, for some people, we will be!).

Now, I don’t know about you, but I find this rather daunting. The reality is that it is just as easy for me to have cranky moments in the midst of a day, as it is for anyone else. To live this way takes focus and prayer. You have to remember – all the time – that you are a follower of Jesus and people need to what you have to give.

The good news, is that none of us followers of Jesus have to do that on our own strength. The good news is for us, too. We know (and are known by!) the source of life which conquered death.

Discussion questions:

1) What does it mean for you to “let the message of Christ, in all its richness, fill your life”?

2) In what ways could you live out the message of Christ during this meeting?

3)How do you want to represent Jesus – as an individual and as a committee of the church?
Prayer:

Father God, you know all of the things we bring into this meeting: the frustrations and distractions of our day. We ask you to help us set those things aside and focus on the work that is before us. We ask you to guide and direct us as we do our work. May our decisions reflect and honour you. Lift our spirits as we work for you that we may feel refreshed and renewed. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.