FEBRUARY 24
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FULLY CARRY OUT THE PREACHING OF THE WORD OF GOD
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am supplementing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions in behalf of His body, which is the church. 25 I was made a minister of this church according to the commission from God granted to me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every person and teaching every person with all wisdom, so that we may present every person complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His power which works mightily within me.
– Colossians 1:24-29
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In this letter, Paul shows the Colossians that he rejoices in his suffering for the sake of being able to fully fulfill his commission from God as a minister of the church. The world and unbelievers will never understand the importance of rejoicing in the midst of suffering. It is very hard to grasp the Spirit’s work when one does not believe in God. The world’s perspective regarding suffering is to avoid it whereas in God’s economy, we need to go through it so we can endure and mature spiritually. Without suffering, we will all be shallow and superficial. It is the pain that makes us endure and press on to God. Paul talks in verse 25 how he was commissioned by God to fully carry out the preaching of the word of God. He speaks about the honor that was given to him as God gave him this responsibility to reach out to the Gentiles, to bring them into the kingdom of light by preaching the true gospel. In verse 27, Paul explains to them the mystery of Christ revealed: that Jesus is the wealth that we possess when we accept Him in our hearts. That the mystery is that Jesus is in every believer and that there is hope that all believers will experience the same glory that Christ has. In verse 28, Paul says that we need to proclaim and preach the Good News of Christ’s act of sacrifice to bring us out of the kingdom of darkness into God’s light. He reminds us all believers of our responsibility to preach the word of God and fully carry out what Christ has begun. He started a good work in all of the believer’s heart. We are all expected to follow through with our assignment in the carrying out of preaching the word of God throughout the ends of the earth.
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REFLECTION
• How far have you obeyed this mandate to preach the Good News to all mankind?