Yesterday we took a quick glimpse at Colossians 2:6:

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,”

Note how the way on in the same as the way in. We trust Jesus by faith, relating to God by His Grace, as a whole way of life. Not cheap grace, but costly grace. Jesus gave up His life for us. We know we can never repay Him, so we don’t try to earn His favor. We have God’s favor because of what Jesus did for us. Now begins the effort, working out what God has worked in (Philippians 2:12-13).

Colossians 2:7 shows us the ‘how’ of continuing to walk in Jesus:

“… rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

Paul’s vision of the Christian life is both ambitious and sustainable. He calls us to accomplish the extraordinary through faithfulness in the ordinary moments of life. (Clearly we were not meant to merely ‘accept’ Jesus as our way to Heaven.) He and we want much more than that. Jesus comes to take masterful control of every area of our lives as our Savior and Lord. Yet what we read here is sustainable as well. As we began in Jesus, we shall continue in Him. The same way we trusted Christ at first, we continue to trust Him each day.

(Paul employs five metaphors in verse 7 as he illustrates how growth works. )

The growing process is rooted like a healthy plant. We shall be continually built up and renovated together as a luxuriously designed dwelling, established on a solid foundation. When Jesus is our sure foundation, we can weather any season and storm. God leads us forward by pointing us back to what we’ve been taught — we never outgrow our need for the good news of Jesus.

People who live this way — rooted, built up, strengthened in the gospel — will naturally overflow (abound) with thanksgiving, like a river at flood stage.

No one can contain that life, it’s an unstoppable force.

(Tomorrow, part 3.)