Inductive Bible Study Method for Colossians 3:16 (1-30-2014)
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
There are several verses from earlier this week that are helpful in drawing interpretation and application from this verse:
James 3:13-17 asked “Who is wise and understanding among you?” then proceeds to challenge those who are wise to show this is true by their actions and fruits. James also explains the differences between worldly wisdom (confusing, bitter, envious and self-seeking) and godly wisdom (gentle, meek, willing to yield and pure).
Psalm 90:12 was about how God is outside of time (infinite) and we are inside of time (finite), and also that if we ask God to teach us to number our days then we will gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 111:10 gives a very concrete statement “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments.” For someone who does not have a fear of the Lord or who does not do His commandments, they will not have a good understanding to gain wisdom.
Adding today’s verse to this - We should: let Christ’s Word dwell in us in all wisdom, teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and having the grace in our hearts be an overflow to sing to the Lord. I see a progression in these verses - it goes from asking who is wise? (James), to learning how little time we have left (Psalm 90), to seeing how to gain wisdom (Psalm 111), and now how to carry out living for Christ.
In order to have the Word dwell in us, we need to be reading, studying and memorizing it. When we’re consistently in the Word, we’re able to teach and admonish one another (share what we’ve been learning from the Word and can then gently correct one another using the Word as our basis), we’ll have Christ’s grace in our hearts and it will be overflowing onto everyone around us.
My application for this study is that I need to keep up on my devotions, take more time to do these Inductive Studies in the Word, continue to memorize Scripture, and continually be in prayer along with just being quiet before the Lord to hear what He has to say to me.
"Reading" other people's fruit is important in knowing one thing: their influence. Good fruit means a person that will come along side you and help you with your walk. Bad fruit means someone that you need to be cautious of, and steer clear of, yet pray for them, and speak truth into their life.
ReplyDeleteI've allowed someone with bad fruit influence me without my protesting for many years. I thank God that His wisdom can lead me to a path that has Him as my Comfort and lead me to the way everlasting. Obedience goes hand in hand with our love for our Lord. And that love is nurtured by staying close to Him.