HOW TO “WALK WORTHY OF THE LORD” - Col 1:9-14.

Col 1:9  For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10  that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

The words “walk worthy” remind us that our every thought and action must be pleasing to our Lord. This is easier said than done! It is so easy to slip into leading a life focused on self. Obedience to the gospel should lead us to this wonderful life, as described in these verses, with us being headed for joy beyond description. However, Satan does not want us to be “qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light,” Col.1:12. In Col 1:9-11, Paul gives the Colossian Christians and us the steps that enable us to walk worthy of the Lord who overcame Satan and lived victoriously on the earth.

Paul started with prayer, v.9, and so should we! Paul’s prayer for them was to “be filled with the knowledge of His will.”  The word “filled” is defined by Vine’s as, “to cram, eg, a fishing net.” Like a student working to obtain his degree, we need to make a good plan for study and commit to it, 2 Tim 2:15. But knowledge is not enough. We need “wisdom.” Wisdom, the ability to live life skilfully comes by taking the knowledge we have gained and comparing it to our lives to see what changes need to be made in order to bring our lives in line with God’s word. Thirdly we need “spiritual understanding.” The word “understanding” means “to put together.” We need to “put together” a plan to put the changes we need to make into action.

I like to illustrate the spiritual growth that takes place in our hearts by picturing a circle divided into four wedges, three smaller, and one larger.

As we spend time growing in knowledge, wisdom and spiritual understanding, the wedge of the “unknown” (our lack of ability to make godly choices) decreases. We must commit to a personal lifelong pattern of Bible study that causes the circle (our hearts) to be filled with 1,2 and 3 – and the Unknown to be minimized! Jesus was not only all-knowing and all-wise, knowing when to be gentle and when to be firm, but His earthly ministry was a plan by which He could train His disciples in just 3 ½ years and then die for the sins of mankind. We need to emulate His knowledge, wisdom, and plan-making, praying at all times. Only then can we “walk worthy of the Lord.”

The word “walk” in Col.1:10 is the ordinary Greek word for walk with the prefix “peri” which means “all around,” eg. perimeter, periscope, etc. In other words, all we do from when our eyes open in the morning to when they close in sleep at night is to be worthy of the Lord.  The word “worthy” means to weigh. The idea is that our words and actions only are “worthy” or have weight or authority if they are authorized by Jesus our Lord. The result then is that our lives are “fully pleasing Him,” which causes Jesus to bless us in “being fruitful in every good work,” Col.1:10. Our good works cause people to look favourably on our actions, as they did concerning Jesus when He was only twelve years old, Luke 2:52. Now we have “increased in the knowledge of God” – we have experienced the blessings of spiritual growth and obedience!

That experiential knowledge motivates or empowers us, as is brought out in verse 11:

Col 1:11  strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

This is not strength due to man, but due to being ‘filled” with God’s word, and “walking” as it guides us. This godly strength must also be clearly seen in the “fruit” we bear “for all patience and longsuffering with joy,” v.11. The word “patience” in the original Greek comes from two words which mean “abiding under” circumstances beyond our control – and we do it “with joy.” In trials such as illness or now in this time of Covid-19, we bear with pain, we bear with inconvenience, we bear with the extra burdens placed on us, not complaining, but looking for the good that can come from it, eg. our spiritual growth. The word “longsuffering” comes from two Greek words which mean “large heat,” and has to do with our reactions to people who ignite flames of anger in our hearts, eg. when someone acts disrespectfully towards us. We may be tempted to explode with anger, but instead, with the “joy” of our salvation in our hearts, we are able to manage our “large heart” and work in a kind way to resolve the problem. So doing, we walk worthy of the Lord and our example will bear much fruit, for which we must give continual thanks.

In the next three verses Paul gives three reasons for this giving of thanks.

Col 1:12  giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Thank God for the wonderful rewards that are ours during our “walk” – now and beyond the grave!

Col 1:13  He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

Secondly, thank God for the love of Christ who through His “word” and His “walk” reveal to us how to be free from the grip of Satan and his darkness, in which we previously walked, Jn.3:19.

Thirdly we give thanks because of what Christ has done for us.

Col 1:14  in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Here we see the price Christ paid to “redeem” us, to buy us back from Satan, the terrible price of giving His own blood on the cruel cross of Calvary. This clearly demonstrates the love of God and Jesus for those in darkness and Their desire for us to enjoy the walk in the light which Christ’s word provides.

Truly we have so much to be “thankful” for! Going back to our illustration of the circle with the wedges. No matter how much we study, we will never totally eradicate the “Unknown.” However, I want to encourage you to make a serious plan to unearth more and more of “the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” that are hidden in Christ, Col.2:3, and thus be strengthened by God to face all circumstances of life with patience and to enhance all our relationships with longsuffering – even with joy, a contagious joy that enables us to “walk worthy of the Lord,” a walk that bears much fruit.

 Les Maydell – August 2020