Practice Walking

During a particularly heated basketball contest, an aggressive defender was relentlessly (and possibly illegally) driving one specific opponent crazy. The consensus in the stands, mainly from the opponent’s mother, was that the referee was intentionally letting this defender get away with fouling her son over and over. When the game concluded, the mom, still exasperated from watching the unfair, ruthless fouls against her son, congratulated him on the win but asked him about this defender. His response? “Mom, we practice for that. Can we get food now?” Unphased by the wild defender, he simply said, “We practice for that.”

In the book of Colossians, the apostle Paul is writing to the church in Colossae trying to address a specific falsehood being taught to the church that only a specific group of believers had access to the things of God. In other words, the false teachers were proposing that you must be in the “elite” to know the secret things of God. Paul was praising the Colossians for their faith, hope, and love (1:3-5) and encouraging them that by walking with Jesus, practicing for the defenders coming their way, they could “bear fruit in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God.” The call to walk with God was open and urged by all believers, not just a certain group of people.

Paul lines out practical ways to “practice” walking in a manner worthy of the Lord. First, pray! Ask God to fill you with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. This is not reserved for the elite but rather for anyone putting into practice the discipline of asking God for wisdom. Second, do the good work right in front of you and it will bear fruit. Practice exactly what God has asked YOU to do, not wishing for different circumstances. Finally, Paul urges endurance and patience. Walking with God is far more reflective of a marathon than a sprint. We practice daily walking with Him and, as one version expresses verse 11, receive “strength to stick it out over the long haul.” We have to practice for that!

Reflect & Pray

Jesus, give us all the endurance and patience we need to walk worthy of You all of our days. May we practice in a way fully pleasing to You, bearing fruit in the good work You have put in front of us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.