Steadfastness of your faith

For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. – Colossians 2v5


I praise God for the churches He has allowed be to be a part of since I have been saved. I thank God for the school I went to. I am grateful for the men I have known and developed friendships with through the years. All of these things have played a role in making me who I am today.

One thing though that I think we have missed out on is something Paul addresses in Colossians 2v5. We pay lip service to it, but I am not sure we value it like we should.

When Paul wrote to the Colossians he did not praise them for all the people won to Christ on Tuesday night visitation. He did not praise them for the number of baptisms in the last year. He did not praise them for their new multi-million drachma building plan. In fact, he did not praise them for any of what we see as so important today.

He praised them because they were in good order and they were steadfast in their faith in Christ. Their ‘order’ was a military term. They toed the line. They met the mark of God’s word. There was a wonderful orderliness to their lives.

There were also steadfast. The Greek word used only here in the New Testament is another military term which means solid and able to stand the attacks of the enemy. They would not be moved from their faith in Christ. Nothing would shake them.

It is this last term that catches my eye today. As I examine my life I have to ask, ‘How solid is my faith? What does it take to shake my faith in Christ to sort things out?’ Apparently I still have lessons to learn. Events do not shake my faith in Christ for salvation, but they can shake my faith in ‘how and why.’

Oh for the faith that is so solid that it is not moved or shaken, no matter what comes my way. When these things happen, I want to trust Him not only in my salvation, but in the hows and whys of my circumstances.