Learning How To Walk

Colossians 1:9-12a

The process of maturation is amazing, especially considering our state of life at birth. We arrive in this world as totally helpless individuals. Physically, we can’t care for ourselves. We need someone to do everything for us. We need someone to feed us, change us, keep us warm when it’s cold, and keep us cool when it’s hot. We have no knowledge, no ability to speak or intelligently communicate, and we don’t even understand what’s being said to us. We can’t care for ourselves, can’t use our hands, and can’t walk.

Yet, we learn to do all of those things. We learn to understand what people are saying to us. We learn to speak, even though we do not know the language. We learn to communicate, use our hands, and even walk. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen. I find it amazing! Considering the state of total helplessness and ignorance in which we entered this world, that we learn so quickly is amazing.

And this process continues throughout life. Hopefully, we never quit learning and growing — maturing. We grow in our knowledge and ability. We go to school where we learn. We learn at home. All of our experiences teach us more about ourselves and others. We learn about life, and are hopefully more mature at 20 than we were at 12. And we should be more mature at 40 than at 20. We keep growing and maturing if we are healthy.

There is a similar process in the spiritual life. Just as we had to learn how to live as human beings in this world, so we must learn how to live as spiritual beings in God’s world. We must learn how to walk spiritually just as we learned how to walk physically. Just as our parents taught us how to walk physically, so the Spirit of God teaches us how to walk spiritually.

That is the focus of our text today. Paul’s desire is that we might live a life worthy of Christ. Look at verse 10:

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way.

A literal translation of the phrase "live a life worthy of the Lord" is "walk worthy of the Lord." The idea of our life as a walk is a very Scriptural one. Our spiritual life is a journey, a walk. We walk the pathway God has set before us, and we do it all to please him. Our calling as Christians is to live our lives in such a way that God is glorified and pleased.

Do you know how to do this? Do you know how to walk in such a way as to please God in everything you do? This is something that must be learned. But it is something that God desires to teach us.

In our text today, Paul shared with these Christians his desire to see them achieve this goal. In fact, he was praying for them to this end. Let’s look at some of the characteristics he mentioned that describe a life or walk pleasing to God.

If we are going to walk in such a way as to please God in everything, we must walk in increasing knowledge.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9-10).

The emphasis of Paul’s prayer was that we needed to grow in our knowledge of God. We need to know his will. We need spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we need more of it. The apostle Peter had a similar emphasis.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18 NIV).

There are two ways to do this. The first is to learn more about Christ. The primary source for this knowledge is the Bible, God’s inspired Word. God has given us this book as the primary source of God’s revelation. On its pages we discover Jesus Christ. He is the message of the entire Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. Therefore, we must study the Bible and meditate on the truth we find there. We must allow the Bible to not only inform our thinking but also reprogram our minds.

The second way we gain knowledge of Christ is by experiencing more of him. Christianity is not primarily an intellectual pursuit. A true Christian is not simply someone who knows about Christ, but someone who has entered into a relationship with Christ. Christianity is not merely to be studied; it is to be experienced. Even the Bible is not merely a book of information. The Bible is a place to meet with God. As you read the Bible, God begins to speak to you by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is a living book. It is a holy book. Its pages are marked by the very presence of the living God. And we need to experience Christ in order to know more of his grace.

In Philippians 3:10, the apostle Paul said that he desired to know Christ. The interesting thing about this comment is that by the time Paul had written Philippians, he had written most of the New Testament. He was a mature and powerful Christian. He had been following Christ for some time. An argument could be made that Paul was perhaps the most knowledgeable follower of Christ at that time. Yet he said that he desired to know Christ. What did he mean? How could he not know Christ! Surely if anyone knew Christ, Paul did.

But Paul was not saying that he did not know Christ, rather he was saying that he wanted to know more of Christ. He wanted to know Christ in a deeper and more intimate way. Paul knew that the more he discovered about Christ, the more there was to discover. The more he knew Christ, the more he realized that there was more to know. What Paul was saying was that he wanted to experience more of Christ. That is our challenge also. We must walk in increasing knowledge.

We must not only walk in increasing knowledge, we must also walk in fruitful service.

…that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work… (Colossians 1:10b NIV).

Christianity is about living for Jesus, not just thinking of him. It is true that we must meditate upon the Word, seek him in prayer, wait patiently to hear his voice, and worship him together. But we must also show his love in practical ways to others. We must reach out in kindness and do good deeds. In other words, we must put our faith into practice. This is what Paul meant when he said we would be bearing fruit in every good work.

There are two kinds of fruit for us as Christians. The first kind is something I call attitude fruit. We see this kind of fruit described in a passage of Scripture in the book of Galatians. It is called there the Fruit of the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV).

This is inner fruit, or attitude fruit. It is the fruit that begins on the inside as our nature is transformed. When the Spirit of God comes into our lives through the new birth, he begins an inner transformation. This inner transformation results in the character of Christ being formed in us. We become more like Christ on the inside. This is the fruit being referenced in the passage from Galatians. But this inner fruit will eventually manifest itself in outward actions.

This brings us to the second kind of fruit. I call it action fruit. In one sense, as I just said, it is the manifestation of the attitude fruit growing on the inside. The result of this is the doing of good works. As Christians, we are called to live out our faith by doing good deeds. In fact, good works are essential to our witness. Look at what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16 NIV)

Jesus wanted us to show the world by our good deeds that we were followers of God. That is how we are to let our light shine. When people see us doing good deeds, it will be a positive reflection on our heavenly Father.

So we must walk in increasing knowledge, and also walk in fruitful service. Additionally, however, we must walk in spiritual power.

…being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience… (Colossians 1:11 NIV).

In fact, it seems to me that this is the key to everything. We must be strengthened with all power in order to live the Christian life in the first place. Without the power of God, we simply can’t live for Christ. We may try to live the way a Christian should live, and we may become morally better than we are, but we will fall short. It takes the power of God to live for God.

Earlier in the message, we mentioned that Paul said that he wanted to know Christ. In that same passage, he also said that he wanted to know the power of his resurrection. When we come to Christ we receive the power of a supernatural life. It is the power to transform our lives. It is the power to enable us to resist temptation. It is the power to enable us to live lives dedicated to Christ. It is spiritual power, and we must have it.

Jesus himself told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they had received power. They had walked with him for three years. They had been personally trained by him. And now they were given a commission to go and tell what they knew. But he knew that they couldn’t do this without his power. So he told them to wait. They were to wait in Jerusalem until the power came.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8 NIV).

They knew the truth. They had the knowledge. But they needed the power. For them to be effective witnesses, they would need more than knowledge. They would need more than all their experience with Jesus had provided for them. They would need the ongoing presence of God. That is what his power is.

We’re told that this power gives us an ability to endure. We must have endurance if we are going to be successful in our walk with God. Hard times will certainly come. They always do. They come to everyone. But for the Christian walking in the power of God, we can have hope in the midst of hard times.

We are also told that this power gives us patience. Patience and endurance go hand-in-hand. The idea here is that of a confident trust in God. That gives us patience. We know that God is going to come through, even though we might not know when or how. But we will never have this patient endurance in our own strength. It will take the power of God. We must be strengthened by his mighty power.

We have seen three ways in which we must walk. We must walk in increasing knowledge. We must walk in fruitful service. And we must walk in spiritual power. Finally, we must also walk in joyful thanksgiving.

…and joyfully giving thanks to the Father… (Colossians 1:11c-12a NIV).

We sing a little song entitled, "Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart." Giving thanks is a significant characteristic of a true Christian. A true Christian is a thankful person. Indeed, we know just how much we have to be thankful for. Of all the people on the planet, we should be the most thankful.

Think of all God has done for you. Of course, the greatest blessing for which we should be thankful is our salvation. That is the greatest gift that could be given to anyone. Because of what Jesus did on the Cross, in dying there and paying for our sins, we can be forgiven and our eternal destiny changed from hell to heaven. You could spend an eternity thanking God for that alone. But God has continued to bless us with countless other blessings as well. If you truly see all that God has done, how can you be anything other than joyfully thankful?

As a matter of fact, we have so much for which to be thankful that we can be thankful even in the midst of terrible circumstances.

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV).

No matter what the circumstance, we can be thankful. This is God’s will for us. Notice, however, that we are not told to be thankful for every circumstance, but in every circumstance. The circumstance may not be good. We may not be able to thank God for the situation, but we are able to thank God that he is present with us in the midst of the situation to help us and strengthen us.

Furthermore, giving thanks is worship. It is an acknowledgment of the goodness and grace of God. It is self-encouragement. It builds us up and increases our faith. And it speaks to others of our trust in God.

Christianity is something you must be and do. You can’t do it without being it, but you must do it or you can’t be it. Who you are and how you live go together.

The call of God, the prayer of Paul, the need of the hour is for Christians to walk worthy of the Lord. We need to learn how to walk that way. We need to grow in the grace in knowledge of Christ. The highest privilege in life is to walk worthy of the Lord, to live a life pleasing to God.

Copyright © 2002 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of the copyright holder and may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.

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