Colossians 2:6-7 - Falling in love is easy - but sustaining that love not so easy. How can love be sustained so that it grows deeper stronger over a lifetime?

When you find Jesus as Saviour and Lord, you feel like the lame man at the temple – you want to walk, leap, praise the Lord. Your guilt is gone, you’re at peace with God, you have joy and assurance of eternal life.

Trials and disappointments may come, like health problems, God doesn’t answer your prayers and doubts creep in. Old friends cut you off and ridicule your faith. If you’re married, your spouse feels threatened by your changed life and becomes hostile. All these trials can diminish our love of God. Some fall prey to false teachers, with others settling for routine Christianity, like some marriages, going through the motions, but not enjoying the love of Jesus.

So, how do you keep that first love fresh and vital? In Colossians 2:6-7, Paul gives us a simple, but not simplistic, answer: We go on with Christ in the same way we received Him.

Three strong actions, describe our relationship with Jesus:  walk, rooted and built up

• Walk in Christ - Implies action - life journey called to make progress - won’t sprint through it.
• Rooted in Christ - Called not only to walk but to be rooted: Roots - nourish, take in food and water, store food. Roots anchor the plant - Christians need to be rooted and anchored in Jesus, rooted in Jesus - draw on Him - bear fruit, encouraged forever; roots unseen but essential
• Built up in Christ - Built up - present passive participle - indicating a continual process of increasing faith, reading the Word, prayer and being filled by Holy Spirit daily helps us to be built up, abounding in thanksgiving

We need to live life with gratitude towards Jesus - attitude of gratitude - “in all things give thanks” Overflowing with gratitude appropriate response to being rooted, built and established in Christ. When we are truly grateful to someone being with, working for and with them, is no burden

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Questions:

What does it mean to "continue to live your lives in Him" as discussed in verses 6-7?  Do you need to make changes in your daily walk to help your love grow for Jesus? Is Paul concerned that the church has full assurance of their salvation?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus help me keep growing in you so I can become more like you.