5/31/25 The Divine Blessing

We are in the 4^th chapter of Colossians, and we have learned much not only about this church and the trials as well as the solution Paul has given them to counter the works of the enemy, as well as the means to access greater authority in the urgency to pray. Much of what we have seen in this series is much of what is taught by Paul is about relationships. Let’s be honest that we are made to dwell together, not alone. God designed us to partake in relationships and do so in a manner that brings glory to him by limiting them in the structures of his design.

In life we have various types and levels of trust in relationships, from the inner most circle to the people you know of. Obviously, the rules and boundaries as to what is acceptable in those circles vary greatly. The level of trust not only various but the cultural rules for conduct will also vary. For instance, you can behave in a way with your spouse that you would not in public among people you are somewhat familiar with. Now remember last week Paul asked for prayer in order to present the gospel truth of Jesus to those around him. For some of us that is not as high of a priority as it should be because we are too caught up in living a life masqueraded by the self and not living a life surrendered to Christ.

So as we get into today’s two verses let’s not forget what the context is. Paul has set the table on relational structures and the emphasis is not himself, not even his freedom despite the fact that he wrote this in chains, but rather to present Jesus the author and perfector of our faith. And why is that? Let’s dig in and find out.

⁵ Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

Paul says be wise let’s stop right there. He did not say be cautious, he did not say be nice. He said be wise. This is the GR word Sophia, which combines sophistication and philosophy. This is divine wisdom, as opposed to human wisdom because in 1 Corinthians 1:24 Paul refers to Jesus as the power of the wisdom of God, ye 2 chapters later in 3:19 “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” So this philosophy that we are to operate in is not of this world. The deeper context is found in 2:20 not to be swayed by the elemental spiritual forces of this world. That is the lure, here Paul references Sophia, godly wisdom in the way STOP.

The way is your conduct. GR word Peripateo peri-comprehensively around, and pateo walk going full circle. In other words conduct yourself wisely committing yourself to the full extent, full extent of what the rest of the verse which originally says kairon (GR for time) redeeming. To make the most of.

Laid out this is a command to make the most of your time by acting wise in your behavior toward outsiders. See without the proper context this verse cannot stand alone because if it stands alone, we lose the context and do not know what opportunity is spoken of here. Paul said even with outsiders that you cross paths with. Grocery store, post office, the gym, do they see Jesus in you?

Redeem the time, the same as it says in Ephesians 5:16. In other words maximize your life! Live up to your potential! To get a divine blessing, be a divine blessing because there is no blessing higher than being a child of God There is no blessing higher in the family of God to be in service to the King and share the awesomeness of our God!

When you are a child of God you have access to blessings, you have access to wisdom, you have access to peace that the rest of the world does not have! Here Paul is saying he wants to share the gospel, wants to share the more than just the knowledge of God no no no he wants us to share with outsiders, what we breathe, what we live that our Father in Heaven is awesome!

Now you may be at a loss. You do not feel like you are called to preach. It does not say that. Look at what V6 says:

⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone

Can you belove this? He wants us to talk with people. What a tremendous concept. I mean we are speaking in an age where face to face communication is being lost, substituted with texting and distance. The world is to some seeming so toxic we do not want to be around other people. Some of us have been wounded, hurt, betrayed by our families, by our closest friends. This is not hard. Engage, in a conversation as in a dialogue not a monologue. This is  not the command to simply drop Bible tracks and walk away. This is not a command to guilt trip or judge people into hell and give them the gospel with a hard sell or fear-mongering.

You conversation is full of grace. Some will get lost on how that can be because of how messed up our culture is. This grace is GR charis meaning favor, kindness, blessing. Seriously the Bible is telling us to approach those outside our inner most circles with kindness, and let’s be honest not all Christians are doing this. Further he says seasoned with salt. Let’s be honest some of us love salt but no one wants it thrown at them during a conversation. There is no hidden deeper meaning here, salt means salt. But the interpretation is for your speech to be appealing, your end of the conversation to be something that the outsider will be drawn to.

Now as we conclude this week let’s go back to the word opportunity. Because the rest of the verse seems scary when we see so that you may know how to answer everyone. Some of us are not well read or well understood biblically. Did you know the thief on the cross was not well read biblically? Yet his plea to Jesus was an element that convinced hardened Roman guards to understand that while Messiah hung on the cross, he was simply no average men. He was the son of God.

Loved ones you have a Divine Blessing to share the truth to the world, while you may or may not be well read biblically your testimony has power. It is a spiritual weapon. Do not be afraid. In this world you need to have the weapon ready because you can be used of God to set people free.