I was reading the first chapter of Colossians after prayer last Thursday. I focused on Paul’s prayer for the Colossians.
As I read through the second half of the prayer, it seemed to me the translators missed a word in verses 11-14. I inserted it in the scripture below.
“We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. [BECAUSE] He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.” [NLT]
Paul wants us to be strengthened with God’s glorious power and to have all the endurance and patience we need (and believe me, we need plenty!).
But he also wants us filled with joy and thanksgiving BECAUSE God has given us an inheritance. That inheritance belongs solely to people who live in the light … and notice … we live in that light BECAUSE He Himself arranged our rescue from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His Dear Son.
He purchased our freedom. We had nothing with which to buy it. He forgave our sins. We could not do enough “good works” to overcome our sin. It was solely His doing.
How could we not be filled with joy and thanksgiving? How could we not be praising our God with great enthusiasm and fervor?
