Walking, redeeming, speaking, answering
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one (Colossians 4:5-6).
In Colossians 4:2-4, Paul teaches us about praying before the Throne of Grace. In today’s verses, he teaches us about living in witness before people. He starts by focussing on walking wisely. The apostle uses “walking” to describe our conduct. It is a very helpful description. The city of Kingston upon Hull, where I was born, was one of the world’s largest fishing ports. There were a lot of fishermen living in my area of the city. When they got back to port after three hard weeks at sea, it was not uncommon to see a fisherman finding it challenging to walk in a straight line after emerging from a public house. God wants us to walk in a straight line, thoughtfully considering our actions and words. We are not to live carelessly, but wisely. Let us avoid being intoxicated by the world we live in and what it offers, and follow the Saviour who redeemed us. James gives us a vivid description of the wisdom that comes from above. It is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:17-18).
We understand that true wisdom has its source in God; it comes from above. It has powerful attributes. It is pure, and ensures our motives are not self-seeking but centred on Christ and seeking the blessing of others. It is peaceful. It enables us to live in the joy and power of knowing peace with God, the peace of God, and the God of peace. It is gentle. It empowers us to follow Christ, who described Himself as “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). It encourages obedience to God. Rather like Psalm 1, James seems to paint a picture of our Christian lives as a tree. Through the wisdom of God, like rain refreshing and feeding us, mercy, goodness, faith and sincerity are manifested by the Holy Spirit’s work in us and demonstrated in our daily lives. Walking in and making peace produces righteousness.
Time can never be recovered. It is a valuable resource, and Paul encourages us to use it wisely. Like sand, it can slip through our fingers. Our times are in God’s hand, and it is helpful to plan our time in His presence, so that we use it best, for His glory and our blessing.
It was said of Samuel, “The Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel 3:19). Like time, words cannot be recovered. That is why our speech should be gracious and appealing. But it should be “seasoned with salt”. There should be a holy edge to our conversation as we share Christ with each other and witness to Him, learning to express and explain our faith. We need to consider this important area and help each other in communicating our faith in Christ. Let’s be honest: Christians find it difficult to share their faith and feel guilty about not sharing it. But we can help each other in this process. First, we need to understand that witnessing is not a lonely occupation: Christ is with us. We learn most about how to speak of Him by studying the way He communicated. Let’s encourage each other in our witnessing, and ask the Lord to teach us how to do it effectively.
