Let the word [spoken by] Christ (the Messiah) have its home [in your hearts and minds] and dwell in you in [all its] richness, as you teach and admonish and train one another in all insight and intelligence and wisdom [in spiritual things, and as you sing] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody to God with [His] grace in your hearts.
Colossians 3:16 AMPC
Context and Charge:
The world emphasizes physical strength, backed up by physical evidence too, such as muscles and exertion. We see some extreme sports designed to celebrate feats of strength, but as we know, there is a limit to what brawn and muscles can achieve for you. There is a realm where muscles and brain power are of not much use, and this is where real power is revealed. To build the right kind of muscles, you need the right kind of nutrients. You will not indulge in junk food, or drink just about anything that catches your fancy. It is a deliberate pursuit of all that will lead to the place you want to get to. Just as it is in the physical, so it must be in the spiritual: if i know where I am headed, I must seek after the things that will preserve and keep me in that path. I will strive to engage in the activities that support that path.
For a man who would enjoy God's strength, he needs to go to the supply, and that is the person of the Word Himself, Jesus Christ, who is called the Wisdom and the Power of God. His Word must find a home in my life and heart, and cannot be an afterthought, or something you pursue only in an emergency. The Word is the Word; it has no variant or option, and you must take it as it is written, not the way you want it to suit your desires. It has to dwell in you, which means it must have a home in you; He is not something to be put aside at intervals. It is from the abundance of the Word that one is able to teach the right way. How do you teach out of something you do not know? How would you convince another person of the truth of God's Word if you have not submitted yourself to its guidance, leading or direction?
Conviction and Conclusion:
The Word must birth new desires, pursuits and priorities in you. It must change the old way of thinking and birth a new phase of life. God's Word cannot co-exist with the world in a man's heart; it is either the Word is allowed to work, or the world is able to promote its works. By the working of the Word, you are able to teach, admonish and train, and then you are also able to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, because the Word has birthed grace in your heart. Those are the signs that the Word of God is doing his work in you. These reactions are not normal or expected for everyone; only a life totally submitted to the Word can produce this kind of fruit. What goes on outside the heart and life cannot stop the joy and peace that are resident inside. It is only the Word of God that can provide the strength you need to face up to and survive the onslaught of the world. God's time of favour is here.
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