Here’s your homework. If you have time, read Colossians chapters 3 and 4. This article will make better sense once you do.

Chapter 3 begins the “so what” portion of Colossians. So, what does it mean or even matter that Jesus is Lord? Of importance, the young church in Colossae needed and had to have an answer.

The case has been made: Jesus is Lord. The Colossians had many gods to choose from if they wanted. This was the First Century – everybody could have had a god and probably more than one. Paul could be clearer: Jesus is God, and there is none beside Him. And to Paul, the way this is worked out is in the daily lives of Christ followers.

The first way this question is answered is by Paul saying, “Since Jesus has set you free, why are you still living the story of the past?” Or put another way: those old habits and practices that used to form and shape you – why have they not changed yet? Again, the passage argues that Jesus set you free from old, formative practices and ways of thinking. Jesus has broken their powers. What are we now doing to live into the new story that Jesus wants to write?

The flow of the passage goes like this:

1. Christ has set you free.

2. Change your thinking/behavior based solely on your “new creation life.”

3. Rid your life of the “old ways.”

4. Begin living out the reality that you have a new self-being renewed and made to mirror the life of Jesus.

6. Since Jesus is all in all and he has saved us from the realm of death, approach Him and live as if He is your all in all.

By the time we get to the middle of Chapter 3, Paul begins to outline the characteristics that set Jesus’ people apart. This new way of life is …

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”

The admonishment from scripture is this: Clothe yourself with Christ and let his life live through you as you practice the qualities above. The Christ life is to be seen more than heard (but heard, too). This is a new way of behavior. This represents a new approach to being and doing.

Why clothe ourselves with Christ and treat people with forgiveness and love? As his church, we are Christ’s representation in the world – so it matters quite a lot how we live our day, inwardly and outwardly. As his chosen people, we are to live Christ in the world.

When we enter into Colossians 4, we have crossed over a mountain of pastoring by Paul. Here are some of the ideas that you would have heard Paul say: There is no one like Jesus to take your dead and estranged soul and make it alive. So, now that you are alive, live as a citizen of Heaven.

When the people of the First Century worshipped Jesus, the church proclaimed that Jesus was Lord. When people worshipped Jesus, it put a mark on them. It set them apart. If we live by the values and characteristics of Jesus, as mentioned in chapter 3, our lives WILL BE DIFFERENT. So, we need help to live this different, culturally resistant lifestyle.

When Paul says in verse 2 of Chapter 4 to be devoted to prayer, we begin to realize that we pray because we need to be attentive to God’s constant presence in our lives. As we pray, we come to Jesus, seeing ourselves as needy and poor in spirit. We pray because we know that we will never become what Jesus wants us to become without his grace and wisdom working in us.

When Paul says, “pray continually,” the command is a picture of being in a state of constant awareness of God and our need for Him to live out His character.

Devoted to prayer in this passage means: “busy oneself with, be busily engaged in, be devoted to” prayer. Most of us want the life Jesus has for us. Most of us want all that Christ has for us. But many are really busy – almost too busy to pray. However, we come to know God and His ways by spending time with Him. Relationships are nurtured by time and proximity.

In his book on prayer, Paul Miller says, “You can’t create closeness. You don’t create intimacy; you make room for it – you can’t get to know God on the fly.” In our praying, we choose not to do something so we can do the best thing, thereby carving out time for God.

OK, what’s the point? Christ has set us free. Our freedom lies in saying “yes” to what is good and saying “no” to what is evil. This life is shaped and cultivated by prayer. Paul is getting at the life-altering, citizen of Heaven type of life that is characterized by a closeness to Jesus and a mimicking of his character. And this is why you were created.

Andy Parriman is the pastor at Prineville Church of the Nazarene. He can be reached at 541-447-5710.