Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings that are easily applied to everyday situations. Consider carefully which of the sayings you’ve read today are particularly applicable to you today and in the coming week. What do you need to change or do more of to make use of God’s wisdom in your life?

While the Colossian church had certainly heard of Paul, they had not met him. Paul described his mission on behalf of all believers. Paul’s first highlighted that he suffered for them. Suffering through trials is a part of the Christian walk (Jas 1:2) and is needed to bring us to maturity. Paul was not saying that his suffering made up for something Christ’s suffering didn’t accomplish. Jesus’ suffering and death was sufficient for our salvation (Col 1:20). Jesus never said His suffering would remove our need to suffer, instead, He told us we would suffer for His sake (Phil 1:29; 2 Cor 1:5). Paul is suffering in ministry just as Jesus said he would (Acts 9:16). Paul was sent to unbelieving Gentiles (all non-Jews) to make the word of God fully known. The mystery hidden for ages now revealed to His saints is not that salvation was available to everyone, God had promised a universal saviour through the seed of woman long before the nation of Israel was established (Gen 3:14-21). The mystery was that God would establish the church where Jews and Gentiles would be fellow heirs and part of the same body (Eph 3:6). Not only does Jesus save us but He lives within us. A major part of the false teaching threatening the Colossian church was the idea of special or secret knowledge that was only available to some. But Paul showed that was wrong because Jesus Christ is available to everyone. Paul’s aim in ministry was to present everyone mature in Christ. Paul lived his life for others, working and struggling in order to help them mature in their Christian walk. Most importantly, he did what he did with complete dependence on God for the strength to continue.

What does your ministry CV look like? We are not all called to serve as Paul did but we are called [and gifted by the Holy Spirit] to serve (Rom 12:4-6). What are you doing to serve your local church? Could you do more?

A key to correct theology is a clear understanding of the preeminence of Christ. Jesus is the image of the invisible God (John 1:18) and is an exact representation of who the Father is. Whoever has seen Jesus has seen the unseeable Father (John 14:9). While Jesus was born as a man at a certain time in a certain place, He has always existed. Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. He is not the firstborn in creation. The word firstborn is not referring to creation order but preeminence. Jesus is superior over creation. Jesus was the agent of creation. Everything that has been created whether visible or invisible was created by Him. If it was not made by Jesus, then it was not made—another reason we can be sure Jesus is the Uncreated One. Not only did He create everything and is superior over everything He has created, but He is the One who continues to hold everything together. Because of Jesus, everything that was made continues to exist. And Jesus is the head of the church, the spiritual body which includes every person who has believed in Him for eternal life since the foundation of the church after His resurrection until He returns again. Jesus is also the firstborn from the dead. Jesus was the first to be resurrected from the dead never to die again and through Him, everyone will be resurrected, either to life with God or to death in hell (Acts 24:15; Rev 20:14-15). Jesus is the fullness of deity in bodily form. God was pleased to take on human form and yet remain fully God. Jesus is the God-man—fully God and fully human. Jesus became man in order to be able to reconcile all things to Himself through His death on the cross. When Jesus died, He made it possible for all people to be reconciled to God through faith. He also defeated Satan and will one day restore everything that sin has corrupted.

Not only do we need a correct view of Jesus, but also of ourselves. We were once alienated and hostile in mind. We were separated from God and His enemies in both thought and action. Through Jesus’ physical death on the cross, He has reconciled us to God. His goal for you as a believer is to present you holy and blameless and above reproach. This does not happen automatically. While all believers are immediately considered holy in their position before God at the moment they believe, it is only through daily faithfulness and obedience that we can experience the intimate relationship with God that Jesus’ died for. That is why Paul adds the condition “if you continue”. One day you will stand before Jesus and give an account for how you lived (2 Cor 5:10). If you have been faithful, stable, steadfast, and not deviated from the hope of the gospel, then you can expect to hear those wonderful words, “well done, good and faithful servant” (Mat 25:23).

How would you describe your Christian walk? Is faithful, steadfast, and stable? Or are you deviating and returning to the unholy? What do you need to change today to return to steadfastness?

Paul had spoken about how he thanked God for their faithfulness. Now he begins to focus on some of the areas where the Colossian church needed support and guidance. They were facing false teaching and heresy that included the idea of special spiritual knowledge available to a select few. From when Paul heard about this threat he had prayed regularly for them and what follows is what he prayed.

He prayed that they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. As we grow in our knowledge of God we grow in our ability to mature as Christians. We cannot apply what we do not know. Therefore it is important that we know God’s word.

Paul prayed that their knowledge would result in them walking worthy of the Lord. The result of our spiritual knowledge should not be a puffed-up mind (1 Cor 8:1) but obedience as servants. When we obey what we read in the Bible, then we are fully pleasing to Him.

When we walk worthy of the lord, then we should be producing fruit in every good work. Fruit comes as a result of an abiding relationship with Jesus just as branches remain dependant on the vine (John 15:1-8).

Paul re-emphasises increasing in our knowledge of God. It is only through a thorough knowledge of God’s word that we can spot what is false.

As we follow the pattern of reading and obeying, walking worthy and bearing fruit, then we will grow in spiritual maturity which makes us stronger in our faith. “The more we obey, the better we get at it.” That spiritual strength enables us to endure and be patient in the face of the inevitable challenges we will face in life and in our trials, all of which we can do with joy (Jas 1:2-4).

All of this should result in us giving thanks to the Father because it is He who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints. God is the one who saved us from darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of Jesus who redeemed us by paying for our sins.

This particular portion of Scripture is a wonderful model prayer that you can use to pray for others. Who can you pray this prayer for today (Try replacing “you” with their name)?

Paul wrote this letter to the church at Colossae. The church had been planted by Epaphras and Paul had never met them (Col 2:1). Paul wrote to warn the church against being led into false religious practice. Paul introduced himself with his title of an apostle in order to establish his authority but reminded them he was an apostle of Jesus Christ based on the will of God, not his own merit. Timothy is introduced as a co-author although most of the letter is written in the singular. Timothy may have been introduced because he worked closely with Paul and would continue Paul’s ministry in that area. Timothy was not an apostle, he was just a brother in Christ. Paul addressed the church as saints, that are set apart in Christ, but also as faithful brothers. They were a faithful church which suggests that Paul’s counsel was not to correct but to warn. Paul wished his readers grace and peace from God our Father. As believers, we have received the saving grace of God. But it is also possible that we do not live with the peace of God. Paul’s desire was that all believers live abiding in our Father’s grace and peace.

Verses 3—8 are one continuous sentence in Greek which can make it a little difficult to follow in English. Paul’s focus was that they were always giving thanks. They gave thanks to God whenever he prayed for them. Paul prayed for all the churches, even those he didn’t personally plant. He prayed for the church at Colossae because he had heard about their faith in Christ Jesus. Not only had they believed the gospel to be true but they had also demonstrated their faith by their love for their fellow believers. Their faith had grown from their hope laid up in heaven. They loved because they had a proper eternal perspective that played out in their daily lives. They were faithful because they had been well taught from the word of truth which bore fruit in their lives as it does worldwide when it is heard and obeyed. They had the privilege of hearing the gospel from one of their own, Epaphras, who was a faithful minister of Jesus Christ to their benefit. He was also the one who gave Paul the good report of their faithfulness.

Compare yourself to the church at Colossae. Would you fit in there? If Paul were writing to you, would he commend your faith and love based on your hope laid up in heaven? Today you’ve read the word of truth. Will it bear fruit in your life as you consider the good example this church is to us?

The story returns to Saul where Israel is under attack from the Philistines. The Philistines overpowered Israel leaving many dead on Mount Gilboa. Among the dead were three of Saul’s sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua (Ish-bosheth survived, 2 Sam 2:8). Saul was badly wounded by archers. Saul asked his armour-bearer to kill him in order to avoid being tortured to death. When his armour-bearer refused, Saul took his own life. Death by suicide was a climax to a life lived independent of God. So it came to pass that Samuel’s prophecy was fulfilled as “Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together” (1 Sam 28:19). When the Israelites living in the Jezreel valley area learned of Saul’s death and saw the army flee, they abandoned their cities and fled as refugees. The Philistines moved in and lived in their cities.

When the Philistines moved through the battlefield and stripped the fallen soldiers they came across Saul and his three sons. This shows the enormity of their defeat because usually efforts would have been made to remove prominent members from the battlefield so the enemy couldn’t get to them. The Philistines decapitated Saul and sent messengers to proclaim their victory. They put Saul’s armour in the temple of the goddess Ashtaroth probably as a thanks offering for their victory. Then they pinned Saul’s body and those of his sons to the wall of Beth-shan, a former Israelite city in the Jezreel Valley area.

Though the Israelites of the area had reacted in fear and fled, the valiant men of Jabesh-gilead went by night and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons. They returned home, burned their bodies and buried their bones there, and then fasted for seven days. Jabesh-gilead was the city that had been rescued from humiliation by Saul at the beginning of his reign (1 Sam 11:1-11). David would later commend them for their loyalty to Saul (2 Sam 2:5-7).

Saul’s end was a tragic conclusion to a life lived up to the worldly calling on him to be a king like the other nations. As believers, we are called to live set apart from the world, not like it. Are you living up to the world’s calling on your life, or God’s calling?

Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings that are easily applied to everyday situations. Consider carefully which of the sayings you’ve read today are particularly applicable to you today and in the coming week. What do you need to change or do more of to make use of God’s wisdom in your life?

Having been ejected from serving in the Philistine army, David and his men made the three-day journey back to Ziklag. In that time the Amalekites had attacked the city, taken the women and children captive, looted the city, and burned it to the ground. These men of war were so heartbroken at what they found that they wept until they had no strength left to weep. The men’s brokenness turned to anger and that anger was focused on David and they tried to stone him. Instead of being overwhelmed by his situation, David found his strength in the Lord his God.

Then David called for Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod and he enquired of the Lord, most likely using the Urim and Thummim which were kept in the breastpiece of the ephod (Ex 28:28-30). David asked the Lord if he should pursue the kidnappers and the Lord answered that he would succeed in overtaking them and rescuing those who had been taken. So David set out with the six hundred men who were with him. When they came to the brook Besor, two hundred men were too exhausted to continue so David left them and continued with the remaining four hundred.

They came across an Egyptian who was half dead having not eaten or drunk water for three days and three nights. They attended to him, giving him food and water to drink. The attention paid to this part of the story seems out of place but serves to show that even in the midst of personal turmoil, David took the time to be kind and gracious, paying attention to the Old Testament regulations regarding the treatment of aliens, especially Egyptians (Ex 22:21; Lev 19:34; Deut 23:7). After reviving the man, they found out that he had been part of the Amalekite raid as a servant of an Amalekite. They also learned that the raid had been part of a larger campaign that included regions of Judah. David then trusted this man to lead him to the raiders after agreeing to spare him and not return him to his master.

The Egyptian led them to the Amalekite camp where they were found out of battle formation, drinking, and dancing because of their great success against the Philistines and Judah. David’s attack was so successful that almost none of the Amalekites escaped and everything that had been taken was recovered from their wives and children to their possessions. When they returned with their possessions and the spoils of war, David greeted the two hundred that had remained behind. Those who were wicked among them did not want them to share in the blessings, other than receiving back their own wives, children, and possessions, because they had not shared in the battle. But David intervened with a statute that would be followed by Israelite armies from that day forward: The share of those who stayed behind would be the same as those who served. There are a number of reasons this policy made sense. Theologically, the spoils of war were a blessing from God, not payment for secular service. If the battle is the Lords, then so is the result. This also highlights the fact that those who returned from war already had received the blessing from the Lord of protection and victory. Finally, David’s statute highlighted the fact that a battle is won as a result of collective effort including those on the frontline and those in a supporting role and each job is vital to the success of the whole.

When David returned to Ziklag, he shared part of the spoil with the elders of Judah. These spoils were shared with God’s people as a result of David’s God-enabled victory over the enemies of the Lord.

As you consider David’s interaction with the Egyptian, how likely are you in a time of personal challenge to be thinking of others?