What does God want me to do with my life? - Colossians

Once a month on a Sunday night Lou and I run a group for older teens and young adults called, “Rooted”. A couple of weeks ago they asked us if we could discuss what God’s will is a for an individual’s life. They don’t do easy questions! So we discussed what sort of life God calls all Christians to. And actually it isn't that complicated when you get down to it. Paul talks about God’s call on the life of every Christian in Colossians 1, and it starts with growing in the knowledge of Him.

So what are we called to do with our lives now, as saints, as  believers, as Christians? It should be the question of any person who has become a Christian – what am I to do with my life now? How am I to live as a follower of Jesus? What is God’s call on my life?

Paul’s prayer for the Colossian Christians in verses 9 – 11 gives us some very good pointers as to what we’re supposed to be doing. It’s not an exhaustive list, it doesn't say everything that could be said. It’s fairly general in the answers it gives us, it’s not going to directly tell us whether you individually are called to be a doctor, a factory worker, a housewife, a missionary or something entirely different.  But it is going to tell us three things that as Christians, we are called to do.

Paul’s prayer in these verses contains three things (today we’ll look at just the first) that he wants to see happening in the lives of all Christians. They are things that they are called to work on, though ultimately they are gifts from God. To borrow the language Paul uses in his letter to the Philippians, these are three ways in which we are to work out our salvation because God by his Spirit is working in us to bring these things about.

What are these things then that Paul prays for in the lives of the Colossian believers, how are they called to live?

The first thing that Paul prays that God would give them, and that he calls them to, is an increase in the knowledge of God.

“⁹And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”.

This is a basic call on the life of every Christian – by the help of God’s Spirit, we’re to seek to grow in, and to be filled with the knowledge of God and his will – so that we will be wise and understanding.

But how does that happen?

Well ultimately it’s a work of God’s Spirit. He’s the one who fills us with the knowledge of God’s will.

But how does he do that? Does he just dump all this information about God into our heads in one big dollop, so that without any effort on our part our heads are suddenly filled up with a Wikipedia like knowledge of God’s will that we can access at a moment’s notice? Sometimes I wish that was the way it worked, but it’s not! It’s not how the Spirit does it.

What the Holy Spirit does, is prompt us to prayerfully study God’s Word, the Word that he has inspired, the Bible where God’s will is revealed.  Now that should happen in private as we prayerfully read our Bibles day by day, and perhaps some good Christian books alongside. And it should also happen together, as we prayerfully listen to God’s word being taught, as we discuss it one to one, or in larger groups, thinking about what it means and how it applies to us. When we ask him, and rely upon him, the Holy Spirit through these means helps us to increasingly know and understand God’s word, and to apply it in ways that demonstrate spiritual wisdom.

So then, are you, by the Spirit’s help, listening to the call to grow in the knowledge of God? Are you getting in to the Word, really digging deep, asking the Spirit to help you become wise and understanding? It’s a vital part of God’s call upon your life and mine.