Stable and Steadfast

…in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel…
(Colossians 1:22-23 – ESV)

How do we become more stable and steadfast in our lives and in our Christian walk? By continuing on with the gospel. Now this doesn’t only mean to keep believing it for your salvation, but continuing on and realizing (making it real, cashing in on the idea) that Christ is all you need for these things, in a tangible way. It is a process and a cycle. As Jesus said, the blade, the ear, and then the full corn in the ear (Mark 4:28) When you remain steady in your devotion the fruit of that will increase and you will be established, rooted, grounded, steadfast. You have got to keep planting seeds in order to remain grounded. Plant now while things are going good, otherwise you will have nothing to keep you grounded during the dry seasons.

The hope of the gospel is a road; it leads somewhere. Paul was saying, “You are on the road now continue and follow Christ”. He is leading you to the cross. Continuing in that walk will make you more steadfast and stable, it will continue to set you apart for God’s purposes and make you more and more blameless. Your life walk will be a place for others to see and to find their own path in Christ. Jesus died to present you to the Father as a faithful follower of the “Rock Walk”.

If indeed you continue, in other words this is the proof that God has reconciled you. Remember this, that He ordains the ends and the means. The warnings we see in the Bible are real, but the elect will heed them. We are to see this not as a condition, but as an exhortation to employ the means at our disposal, chief of which is to rest secure in the finished work of Christ on the cross for our forgiveness and deliverance. Those that shift are those that are on shifting sand, they weren’t actually founded on the Rock.

You are forgiven and you are delivered. You don’t work for forgiveness you work from forgiveness and you walk in it. In the same way, you don’t work for deliverance you work from deliverance and you walk in it, and any other way is a false way. When people are ensnared what they need is Jesus, what they need is the gospel. They need repentance and faith (2 Timothy 2:25-26 / Colossians 2:6). Listen Christian; the same gospel that justifies is the same one that sanctifies. People get away from that and can slide into all sorts of other things; this was the point Paul was making. The Colossians had their hope and they were doing well, but Paul prayed for them that they would be strengthened to see the continuing hope of Christ and to grow in the knowledge of that, experientially finding out that Christ was indeed all that they needed.

God doesn’t always deliver us from the desire, He delivers us from the control it has over our lives, but we have to “exercise control”. We have to be stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope. Why does He allow the desire to still be there? Desire doesn’t go away so that we stay tethered to Jesus. Tethered to Jesus not some other way. Make sure you stay grounded today (Matthew 6:33-34). Keep planting and keep receiving it. How’s your “Rock garden” doing?