More Devotion / You are What You Devote Yourself Too

Chains rattle as you hear the faint scratching of a quill coming from the man in his jail cell. He is hunched over his writing tablet and feverishly writing the end of a short letter that he was going to send to fellow Jesus followers that he had never met, but had heard so much about.

What could be so important that this man was willing to be beaten, imprisoned, and even have his head cut off for? Answer: Intentionally living like Jesus.

Sermon Statement: To live like Jesus, you need to restructure your life to look like Jesus. Scripture Statement: Paul is writing to the believers in Colossae to teach them how to structure their lives so that they can start living like Jesus.

Paul is nearing the end of his letter to the Colossians where he is encouraging them to live for more. Not because it’s a good idea or something that will help us out in the future, but because of what Jesus has done for each and everyone of us:

Produced fruit in our lives (Col. 1:6) Rescued us from darkness (Col. 1:13a) Brought us into His kingdom (Col. 1:13b) Redeemed and forgave us of our sins (Col. 1:14; 2:13b) Brings us to fullness (Col. 2:10) Spiritually removed your hard heart and replaced it with one sensitive to God (Col. 2:11) Cancelled the spiritual debt you owed to God (Col. 2:14) Raised you with Christ (Col. 3:1) Brought you into a new kingdom where everyone is equal in the family of God (Col. 3:11)

But just like in our culture today, Paul realizes that there are plenty of things that we can devote ourselves to and live for:

Popularity / Going viral Being famous Being financially secure Fighting injustice Fixing the problems, we clearly see in our world Winning your teams championship Having that guy ask you out Having as much fun as possible The Bengals finally winning a Super Bowl

Paul gets that this life will try to crowd out what God is wanting to show you. Because of this, Paul is encouraging us to devote ourselves to living like Jesus.

Transition: Paul is show us that if we want to live like Jesus, then we need to have a certain mentality and do start doing two things. First, the mentality that we need to have is that we need to be devoted to our spiritual growth, so we need to train like Jesus.

Point #1: Train like Jesus

Your spiritual growth is not something that just happens to you. Nothing just grows on it’s own. Plants need the sun, water, and good soil. Muscles need resistance and repetition. People need food and calories to convert into energy.

Spiritually, you don’t just grow by being static and allow things to happen to you. You don’t grow in your relationship with Jesus by just coming to church when your parents make you. You don’t grow spiritually by just being around Godly people. You don’t even grow spiritually by listening to pastors who care about you and try to teach you good things.

Instead, you have a part to play in your spiritual growth. Much like an athlete trains there body to be able to perform to the best of their abilities you should train spiritually to look more like Jesus everyday. Much like a student trains their mind by studying or staying curious and thirsty to learn more, you should train your mind to be like Jesus’ so you can grow spiritually. This is true of me, Tony, the Apostle Paul, and even Jesus - the Son of God.

READ Luke 2:52

Luke 2:52 NIV

52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

You grow spiritually when you intentionally structure your life by prioritizing Jesus over everything else. When Jesus’ message and methods take center stage in your life, then you start to look like Jesus which is what Paul is instructing all of us to do here in Colossians.

But you only do that when you have the right mentality. So, what kind of mentality should we have?

READ Colossians 4:2

Colossians 4:2 NIV

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Explanation: Paul tells us to ‘Devote yourselves...’

What does that mean?

Proskartero literally means, in this context, to persist in something. To be persistent. Don’t let anything get in your way. If a wall gets in your way, you are running through that wall because nothing is going to stop your growth. Instead of seeing obstacles in your way, you know see opportunities that will help develop and grow you into the person you were purposefully created to be! You see your Bible as a training manual instead of some boring book that gets really weird at times.

What does that look like?

My dog, Gryffindor … [SHOW PIC OF GRYFF]

We call him Gryff, Gryffy, Gryff Gryff, Booger, Weirdo, and Mr. Crazy, has separation anxiety. So, what that means is that if I leave him at home by himself, he won’t settle down and chill but instead he will constantly be looking for me.

[SHOW PIC OF GRYFF LOOKING OUT WINDOW]

He will legitimately run around the house looking for me and eventually start howling at the top of his lungs for me to come back. It’s kind of sad, but you can tell he is devoted to finding me.

That is how you and I should be toward God.

Not resting until we find him. Not resting until we see where he is working. Not resting until whatever separates us from him has been removed so that we can start living and looking like Jesus.

You know when something is important to you when you intentionally structure your life in such a way that that thing takes top priority in your life.

When I leave my dog, his top priority is to find me. When Heather and I got married and moved to Pittsburgh and the job I had lined up fell through, I started praying and praying because the wedding money our families had given was only going to last for a month.

What is your top priority? What are you devoting your life too?

Transition: Paul is showing us that if we want to live like Jesus, then we need to train like Jesus by being devoted to two things: prayer and other people. So not only should we train like Jesus, but we should also pray like Jesus.

Point #2: Pray like Jesus (vv. 2b-4)

Jesus intentionally structured his life so that he could connect with His father through prayer. He did this because he knew God was listening and willing to do something because of our prayers.

READ Colossians 4:2b-4

Colossians 4:2b–4 NIV

3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Explanation:

Why does Paul tell us to devote ourselves to prayer and not something else? Why is prayer so important?

Pray is like a mirror: it shows you and God what you care about the most. It shows you whether you are trusting God enough to take your problems to him. It shows you what your priorities are and whether you care about others or just yourself.

When you pray you are intentionally putting God where he belongs in your life and purposefully positioning yourself under his leadership and guidance. When you pray you are submitting your agenda to God’s for your life, for other people, for the city you live in, everything.

Paul understood this, so instead of telling us to devote ourselves to reading our bible or staying away from porn; Paul tells us to be devoted to prayer because when you elevate and focus on prayer other things in your life will begin to realign to start reflect Jesus more and more.

How can you be watchful when you pray?

When something is important to you, you are going to stay awake and think about that, pray about that, and lose sleep over it. That’s what Paul is talking about. Prioritizing spiritual things so much so that you can’t sleep because it’s just on your mind.

Don’t be like the disciples because on the night that Jesus was betrayed and arrested, he went to an Olive Garden and prayed for God to strengthen him so that he could actually be our spiritual sacrifice. He asked his closest followers to pray with him, but when he got back to them, they were all asleep.

This is what he said to them:

READ Matthew 26:40-41

Matthew 26:40–41 NIV

40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Why does Paul tell us to be thankful?

Being thankful also refocuses your attention and puts it on God and not just your issues. When you are thankful, you stop being selfish. When you are thankful, you intentionally elevate the other person who you are thankful for or toward. So, when you pray thankfully, then you are prioritizing God and humbling yourself. Thankfulness implies understanding all that God has done and anticipating what he promises.

How can we be thankful?

READ James 1:17

James 1:17 NIV

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Ask yourself the 5 Why’s:

Why should I be thankful? Why am I alive? Why did God make me on purpose? Why does God want me to bring him glory? Why does God love me?

If you can develop and cultivate a thankful heart, then other positive characteristics will start to grow too.

I’m thankful, why should I be angry? I’m thankful, why should I be judgy? I’m thankful, why should I run after things that aren’t of God? I’m thankful, I can treat others the way I would want to be treated.

“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.” - Cicero

When you pray, do you just pray for yourself?

To be clear, it is totally okay to pray for yourself. But to be honest, that’s like level 1 type prayer. Try to level up your prayer by praying for others and by praying for God’s kingdom to advance in your school, in your neighborhood, and in this city.

Paul is reminding us to pray for the advancement of the gospel and for God’s kingdom to grow. This request from Paul, totally models Jesus’ prayer in Matthew.

READ Matthew 6:9-13

Matthew 6:9–13 NIV

9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

When you pray like this, you are elevating God’s agenda over yours.

When you pray this kind of prayer, you are:

Giving God honor by putting him above yourself Asking for his kingdom to grow and his will be done instead of your own Reminding yourself to rely on him to provide for you Asking him to grow you spiritually so that you can be more like Jesus

So, ask yourself:

Am I watching out for the things God is doing?

Am I cultivating a lifestyle of thankfulness?

Am I actively praying for God’s agenda to happen in my life? In my friend's lives? In my city?

Transition: Paul is showing us that if we want to live like Jesus, then we need to train like Jesus by praying like Jesus and lastly, investing like Jesus.

Point #3: Invest like Jesus (vv. 5-6)

Jesus was popular. People wanted to be around him. They wanted to hear him and do life with him. The reason why so many different types of people wanted to be around Jesus was because he invested in everyone he came into contact with.

He taught people, went to their wedding, healed them and their family members, and continually shared meals with people. Back in Jesus’ day, sharing a meal with someone meant you were no longer strangers, but close friends.

Jesus continually did this by investing his time into the relationships around him and Paul is encouraging us to do the very same so that we can spark spiritual growth in other peoples lives as well.

READ Colossians 4:5-6

Colossians 4:5–6 NIV

5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Explanation: Paul is calling us to be wise and capitalize on spiritual opportunities around us. Do you guys realize that your generation is spiritually hungry and curious about Jesus?

You will be able to talk with so many different people that DJ, Tony, or any of us will never be able to talk too. Because of that, let words that come out of your mouth be salty!

Salt can be used for a lot of different things:

Salt enhances flavor Salt was a preservative Salt was used as a disinfectant Salt was used as money Salt was used in religious practices

Paul is encouraging us to live like Jesus by serving others with the words we choose to use.

Are your words pointing people to Jesus?

Are your words elevating God over everything else in your life?

Are your words sparking spiritual growth in others?

Transition: If we want to live like Jesus, then we need to train like Jesus, pray like Jesus, and invest like Jesus.

Conclusion/Call to Action:

If you’ve got a smartphone, pull that out. Go to your settings and navigate to your screen time. I don’t know if android users have that, but let’s be honest – why do you have an andriod?

This past week, I’ve been on my phone for a total of 25 hours and 36 minutes, but that breaks down to the following:

8 hrs and 39 minutes on social

4 hrs and 32 minutes on entertainment, but that’s just Spotify for me

3 hrs and 35 minutes on Productivity and Finance

If I drill down deeper, I found my Bible app. Guess how much time I’ve spend, this week, in my Bible app?

30 minutes! That’s not good. My phone is telling me that I spend 17x the amount time on social, than I do in God’s Word.

You are what you devote yourself to.

What are you devoting yourself too today?

Let’s Pray