Colossians 1:1-8: a reflection

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all the saints, 5because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News 6which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth, 7even as you learned from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf, 8who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

Paul gives thanks for the Colossians' faith and love, and he traces both to a common root: because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you have heard in the word of truth, the gospel. Their faith in Christ and their love for all the saints, he says, spring from the hope stored up for them in heaven. The hope of what God has laid up for them was the root from which their present faith and love grew.

Notice the order Paul draws: the heavenly hope produces the present faith and love. It is because of the hope laid up in heaven that they believe and love. The hope of what awaits them, the inheritance God has stored up for them, was not a distant, irrelevant thing, but the very root of their present faith and love. Knowing what God had laid up for them freed and fueled them to believe and to love now. The future hope shaped the present life.

That connection, between the heavenly hope and present faith and love, is worth taking to heart. We may think of our hope of heaven as separate from how we live now; but Paul ties them together. The hope of what God has laid up for us, if we truly grasp it, frees and fuels us to believe and to love now; those who are secure in the hope stored up for them are freed to trust God and to love others generously in the present. Let the hope laid up for you in heaven be not a distant, irrelevant thing, but the root of your present faith and love. Grasp what God has stored up for you, and let it free you to trust him and to love others now, as the Colossians' heavenly hope produced their faith and love. A hope firmly held frees the heart to believe and to love; let your hope of what God has laid up for you fuel your faith and love in the present, as it did theirs.

Lord, Paul gave thanks for the Colossians' faith and love, and traced both to a common root: the hope laid up for them in heaven, of which they had heard in the gospel. Help me take to heart that connection, between the heavenly hope and present faith and love. I may think of my hope of heaven as separate from how I live now; but Paul ties them together. The hope of what you have laid up for me, if I truly grasp it, frees and fuels me to believe and to love now; those who are secure in the hope stored up for them are freed to trust you and to love others generously in the present. Let the hope laid up for me in heaven be not a distant, irrelevant thing, but the root of my present faith and love. Help me grasp what you have stored up for me, and let it free me to trust you and to love others now, as the Colossians' heavenly hope produced their faith and love. A hope firmly held frees the heart to believe and to love; let my hope of what you have laid up for me fuel my faith and love in the present, Lord, as it did theirs.