Jeff Englund

March 31, 2025March 31, 2025

Colossians 3:25 – A Warning

Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.

Summary: Wrestling with Paul’s letters is not an easy task. Paul’s thinking can be complicated, and the context of his thoughts obscure. Today’s passage gives us plenty to ponder.

In the beginning of Paul’s letter, he “sets the table” with this statement:

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” (Colossians 1:21-23)

March 29, 2025March 30, 2025

Colossians 3:24b – Serving Jesus

It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Summary: How we live testifies to what we believe.

It is significant that Paul should return to these words: “It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” He has already told us to “do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col 3:17). Now, he points out it is Jesus whom we serve.

Why does he say this?

March 28, 2025March 28, 2025

Colossians 3:24a – Self-Interest

… since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

Summary: In this passage, Paul introduces the concept of our “inheritance in the Lord.” How we understand our spiritual life has a lot of influence on how we understand this passage.

Ah! Now we get down to brass tacks! If we do all this stuff for Jesus, what do we get out of it?

This is where theology gets hard.

March 27, 2025March 27, 2025

Colossians 3:23b – Working for Jesus

… as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

Summary: Decoding the Bible means being willing to look at things from God’s point of view.

Have you ever wondered what earth looks like from heaven?

I know … It is not really a fair question. It assumes that spiritual beings “see” the same way that physical beings see.

March 26, 2025March 26, 2025

Colossians 3:23a – A Life-Giving Force

Picture of a man whose chest is glowing with the breath of life.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart …

Summary: Paul’s choice of words in this passage opens the door to a way of living that brings us closer to God and closer to the way we were intended to live.

I have a confession to make:

Sometimes, when I come to a place where Scripture repeats itself several times, I simply want to refer back to the first time and say, “Well, we have already talked about this so let’s skip ahead to the next verse.”

March 25, 2025March 25, 2025

Colossians 3:22b – Serving Jesus

… and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.

Summary: Paul continues his admonition to obey our earthly bosses with detailed instructions as to how we should serve them.

In our last meditation, we looked at what it means to be a servant. Essentially, the modern-day equivalent is having a job.

If we look at Paul’s text that way, it is easy to see that his words still have value.

March 24, 2025March 24, 2025

Colossians 3:22a – Doing Our Job Well

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything …

Summary: Understanding Paul’s words often depends on understanding the Greek word he uses. In this case, the word “slave” can be misleading if we don’t look deeper.

The use of the word “slaves” in this passage is disturbing to a lot of people. It should be. Forcing people to serve us under threat of torture or death is horrible. It is basically stealing people’s lives from them.

If this passage were all about slaves, we could skip it and move on.

March 22, 2025March 23, 2025

Colossians 3:21 – The Good Life

Picture of a man sucking on a lemon (with a puckered face!)

Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

Summary: This passage touches on a sensitive point for many people. Relationships are easy to break and hard to mend. Having a good relationship with God our Father is priceless.

I always find it interesting how the Bible speaks to us in different ways.

Many people have fathers whom they love dearly. They are fathers who invest in their kids, set a good example in life, and are good husbands and role models.

March 21, 2025March 21, 2025

Colossians 3:20 – God’s Children

Picture of a man in white hair, beard and robe depicting God holding the world in his hand and rolling his eyes.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Summary: Speaking of children, how did God deal with his kids?

It is interesting that Paul would include this statement in his section on family values, but not surprising.

Paul is sharing information revealed to him by God (Galatians 1:12). As usual, God’s message is completely consistent over the centuries. It is also a message close to God’s heart.

March 20, 2025March 21, 2025

Colossians 3:19 – True Love

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

Summary: Paul is giving advice to married couples, and while it may sound like he is stating the obvious, a closer examination shows us more of what he means.

I feel like all I need to say for this meditation is, “Yeah, husband, lighten up!” But it is more complicated than that, isn’t it?

“Love” is a word that is horribly overused in our society. The Greeks used many different words to describe various kinds of love. All of them were different!