Day 344/365- Colossians 2:6-7

"Putting down roots"

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6, 7 NLT)

The thought of telling Christians to have a Christ-centered, gospel-centered life seems to be redundant. Because, to be a Christian is to be Christ-centered & gospel-centered. Or, at least it used to.

The Christian waters have been muddied recently by so-called "lukewarm" Christianity & the popular gospel. So much so that the church at large in the United States has exchanged the gospel for moralism & Christ for religion.

But Paul's teaching in Colossians 2 is, "And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him." For a Christian, there is nothing beyond Christ & the gospel. There is only continuing to follow him AND putting down roots further into him & his gospel.

This has many implications. But here's what most stands out:
Live every day in light of the gospel.

This is two-fold:
We need to preach the gospel to ourselves everyday AND
we need to preach the gospel to others everyday.

The gospel is not something we pull off the shelf when we read the first four books of the New Testament but is a day in & day out reality. The gospel has a depth that we must continue to press into so that we understand more accurately who we are in Christ. Only then will our lives be different & transformed. Outward conformity of our lives by morality is not transformation. We may get better, but we won't be made new. This world can get better on its own, only Jesus makes things new.

And only when we do this will we be equipped to share the gospel. We can't share what we don't experience. We cant talk about the amazing vacation we have never had. Similarly, we can't talk about the Jesus we don't know.

The deeper the roots we have into Christ & the gospel, the more & easier it will be to share the gospel. We will share it as easily as breathing in & out. It becomes involuntary instead of voluntary.

So how deep are our roots? Are we religious or Christ-followers? Are we moralists or being transformed by the gospel?