Colossians 3:16
Do Christ Words
Live in Us?

This verse is found in the letter from Paul to the church in Colossae. Early on in Chapter 3, Paul told his audience that they should “seek the things that are above, where Christ is” (vs 1) and “set your mind on the things that are above, not on things on the earth” (vs 2). They should have an eternal mindset, not a temporary one. Paul next gives a set of generic imperatives, of which our verse today is one, followed by a set of imperatives to specific groups (wives, husbands, children, etc).

So the imperative today is applicable to all groups, and by extension, all Christians. We all should let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. Let’s look at what some of the words in this sentence mean.

The word is ‘logos’,  which comes from ‘lego’ – speaking, and stands for a collection of thoughts that have been put together and were then expressed in words. So here it indeed does stand for all the things that Jesus said, and most likely also for the things that Christ spoke through His apostles (since the Holy Spirit would bring to their mind all things that Christ had said – John 14.26).

Dwell is ‘enoikeo’, which comes from ‘en’ (in) and ‘oikos’, which means an inhabited house, so our word for dwelling means indeed just that. Christ words should live in us, just as we live in a house.

In fact, His words should live in us richly. And we should use it for two things, to teach and to admonish one another. Yes, we Christians have to teach each other, and admonish each other. To teach is ‘didasko’, and it means ‘to cause to learn’. So we have the responsibility to think about how we help others learn the things that Christ has said. And to admonish is ‘noutheteo’, and means literally to ‘put in mind’. It involves exercising some pressure on someone’s logic, to test whether their thoughts or choices are in accordance with Christ’s words.

This teaching and admonishing needs to be done in wisdom.

Finally, Christ words should cause us to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (whatever they are), which grace in our hearts (whatever that means) to the Lord.

But let’s focus on the imperative: “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. How do achieve this?  My favorite illustration for this is the hand illustration. Check out this great 8 minute YouTube video: Get a Grip on God's Word. To get a solid grip on Christ’s word, you need to:

• Hear it (in church or by using an app that reads the bible to you)
  
• Read it (in your daily Quiet Time or otherwise)
  
• Study it (bible study to the rescue)
  
• Memorize it (for example using the Memory tool in Quiet Time)
  
• Meditate on it (thinking through implications for application)

When you are doing these five things on a regular basis, you will have the word of Christ dwelling in you richly. Good! Keep going. If you are not engaged in these five things regularly, well, today is a good day to get started. 

Godspeed!