02.06 | Dancing Shoes
Colossians 3:1-4:1
‘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.’
Colossians 3:16
Every day, we all face a choice.
What am I going to wear today?
If it’s a day off, you’ll probably put on some comfortable clothes—old, familiar, friendly, easygoing. If you’ve got an interview, you’ll power-dress up to impress. If you’re heading to the gym, the sports clothes come out. And if you’re headed to a party, you’re pulling out your dancing shoes.
There’s a way in which what we wear each day, as we select and take clothes from our wardrobe, is led by the activity before us. But there’s another element to it too, because we know that what we wear in some way leads how we’re going to approach the day. Putting on your dancing shoes gets you in the mood for dancing. Putting on your hiking clothes gets you in the mood for adventure.
Paul’s words today use this kind of imagery.
Look at what he’s doing.
He’s dealt with who you are. You are loved, transferred to the Kingdom of the Son, living now from that place towards this place. Your identity and homeland and destiny are all secured.
And yet, we have choices of how to live in this day.
In other words, you’ve got a choice of what you’re going to wear. You can dress like you’re from the broken, fearful, anxieties of the world. Or you can dress from the royal clothes of the peace and grace and love of heaven.
So how do we do this?
Paul gives us a couple of pointers.
First up, we have a culture collision here, because most of us are well-schooled in a cultural worldview that assumes that our feelings lead our choices. We read Paul’s words here, then, and think that he’s telling us what we ought to feel. Then, when we do feel jealous or angry or we don’t feel compassionate or kind, we quickly just feel like a failure.
But there’s another way of looking at this. Because this idiosyncrasy of our culture is not common to wisdom that spans the ages. Paul knows that the transformation of the heart does not usually begin with feelings, but rather it begins with our little choices. Those little decisions—when you’re feeling fearful but choose to act with courage, or when you’re feeling angry but choose to act with patience, or when you’re feeling jealous but choose to act with kindness—have great impact on the soul. When Paul asks them to put to death or to put on, he’s not asking them to feel their way into new ways of acting; rather, he’s asking them to act their way into new ways of feeling. He’s asking them to choose to put on clothes that align with who they truly are. Will we do it imperfectly? Of course. Will it work immediately? Not a chance. But the sum of a life of a million little choices is extraordinarily powerful when partnered with the presence of the Spirit who lives in you for your daily renewal.
Secondly, Paul invites them to fill their lives with God’s word. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. The word ‘richly’ means ‘abundantly’—plentiful in volume. Let lots and lots and lots of the truth of Jesus fill your life so that you become saturated in it. This means Scripture, this means song, this means letting His ideas and words and Story and truth be so regular in your life that your inner environment becomes transformed. Filling your life with His word isn’t a religious obligation—heavy and dour—but rather is an invitation to flood your life with His reality until peace becomes the governing power of your every moment.
It’s not instantaneous. And yet, when these simple acts of daily choice are offered in the presence of God’s mighty Spirit—working in you in this very moment—these simple things become holy fire unto the beautification and healing of your life.
Reflect:
What truth about Jesus do you need to hold abundantly in your heart today?
Soak in this truth today.
Pray:
Father in heaven,
I cannot work this out alone.
I need you.
I need your fire and power and life upon me.
And yet, Father,
I see that you delight to send your power upon
Something.
My little choices—
Of kindness and courage and patience;
And the ideas and truths I soak into my soul—
Of what I read and listen to and sing and contemplate.
And so, Father,
Take the truths that I fill my heart with,
And these little choices,
And fill them with holy life,
That my ways and thoughts and feelings
Align with who you have made me to be
In Jesus’ Name
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
1 Kings 19-20 | Psalm 71:1-16