“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
There is a difference between visiting somewhere and living there.
A visitor may spend a few hours in your home. They may sit at your table, enjoy a meal, and have a wonderful conversation. But eventually they leave.
Someone who lives there is different. Their presence becomes part of the rhythms of the household. They shape what happens there because this is their home.
Paul uses that kind of language when he writes,
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”
God’s Word isn’t meant to be an occasional visitor.
It’s easy for that to happen. We hear Scripture on Sunday morning, perhaps read a devotion during the week, and then move on to everything else demanding our attention. Meanwhile, countless other words are dwelling with us. News reports, social media, advertising, entertainment, coworkers, friends, and our own thoughts continually tell us what is true, what matters, what we should fear, and what will make us happy.
Some of those messages are harmless. Some are helpful. Others quietly contradict what God has said.
Paul invites something better: Let the Word of Christ make its home among you.
Notice that he calls it the Word of Christ. Scripture is not simply a collection of religious information or instructions for better living. God’s Word brings us Christ. It tells us what He has done for sinners. It exposes our sin, but it also announces the Savior who carried that sin to the cross. It tells us of the empty tomb and the forgiveness, life, and salvation that are ours because Jesus lives. Christ is the Word made flesh.
And this Word does not merely inform us. God works through it.
God’s Word is living and active. The Holy Spirit uses the Word to create and strengthen faith. Through God’s Word, God comforts troubled consciences, corrects us when we wander, gives wisdom when we do not know what to do, and continually turns our eyes back toward Christ.
Paul also describes something we can easily overlook. He isn’t speaking merely to individual Christians having private devotional time. He tells the whole congregation to let Christ’s Word dwell among them as they teach and admonish “one another.”
The Christian faith was never intended to be lived alone.
We need other Christians to speak God’s Word to us. Sometimes that happens from the pulpit, but sometimes it happens in Bible study or around the dinner table. It can happens when a Christian friend reminds us of a promise we desperately need to hear.
Paul even mentions singing. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs put God’s truth on our lips and into our memories. Long after a sermon has faded from memory, a hymn learned years ago can suddenly return with exactly the words we need.
One of the neat things many people who have cared for the aged have discovered, especially when there are memory issues, is that certain things stick. It’s not uncommon for someone who can’t hold a conversation with you to be able to pray the Lord’s Prayer with you or sing “Amazing Grace.” That Word, those songs, are firmly in the person’s heart and mind.
So let the Word of Christ dwell richly among you. Hear it. Read it. Sing it. Speak it to one another.
Because in His Word, Christ comes to us with His gifts and transforms us. He dwells with us.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for giving me Your Word and, through it, continually pointing me to Your Son. Forgive me for the many other voices I allow to shape my thoughts while neglecting the voice that gives me truth and life.
Let the Word of Christ dwell richly in me and among Your people. Through Your Holy Spirit, use it to correct me, comfort me, strengthen my faith, and keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. Give me opportunities also to speak Your Word to others so that together we may encourage one another in Christ.
Through Jesus Christ, my Lord.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
