This blog is the last in a four part series on the book of Colossians.

Having spent the end of chapter 3 talking about everyday roles and circumstances that we all find ourselves in, Paul now points out things that we need to get right if we want to have an impact on the world around us.

Keep praying (4:2-4)

Prayer is probably the one thing that everyone will agree on as being vital to the Christian life and for staying close to God, yet it is also the thing that most of us struggle with at some point in our lives. Paul here highlights characteristics that should be evident in our prayer lives: faithfulness (continue steadfastly in prayer), watchfulness (being watchful in it), thankfulness (with thanksgiving) and purposefulness (pray for us).

I wonder is prayer important in your life? Is it a case of keep praying for you, or more like start praying? If you want to have an impact on this world for the Lord Jesus then prayer is essential, and it’s one of those things that the more you pray for blessings on others, the more you yourself are blessed.

Walk wisely (4:5)

While prayer is vital, we also have a responsibility to be wise in how we live our lives before others. Paul makes it clear here that we need to ‘walk in wisdom’. As we have looked at before, the idea of our walk refers to our conduct in our daily lives—how we go about living. Paul here stresses that we need to do this in wisdom, literally to be wise in the way that we act. In Northern Ireland one of our common little phrases is ‘wise up,’ and there is a bit of that in what Paul is saying here. He is telling us not to say or do anything that would make it difficult to share the gospel with others.

I wonder do you walk wisely? Does your walk measure up to your talk or would there be a bit of hypocrisy in your life?

We are also told in this verse to make the best use of our time by being alert for opportunities to share the gospel with others. The idea is like you are out shopping and you see a great bargain and snap it up—that’s the term used for this, to be alert and not miss the opportunity to share the gospel.

Is your conduct and the way you live your life bringing questions from people? Are they attracted to Christ because of the way that you live your life?

Speak graciously (4:6)

It’s not a mistake that Paul first of all spoke about our actions. It is essential that our lives give us a platform to speak to others. That doesn’t mean that our lives have to be perfect before we are able to speak to anyone about Christ, but it does mean that living our lives in a way that glorifies God should be a priority for us. However, it’s not enough to just walk before people—we do need to take the opportunity to share the gospel with them. The key is that when we share it we need to share it in the right way.

We are told to speak graciously, lovingly and gently. Is that how you speak to others about the Lord Jesus? Speaking graciously means that we are loving and caring in how we deal with and speak to others. Being sensitive to their needs and where they are at in their lives.

But graciousness necessitates truthfulness, so if we are to speak graciously we need to share the truth of God’s word. So often, especially in this country, we end up with one extreme or the other. We have plenty of people who are willing to speak and teach truth, but they do so in such a harsh way that people are turned away and refuse to listen. The other extreme is that we have many who are loving and caring to so many who are needy, but yet they won’t tell them the truth of how they stand before God. If you and I are to be gracious in our speech, then we need to be loving and caring in how we deal with others, but we also need to speak in truth.

As we look back over these four chapters, what about you? For many of you, you are serving the Lord in so many ways, and I hope you get enjoyment from that, but don’t miss out on what it’s all really about. It’s about Jesus.