Truth Today: Colossians 1:10

The prayer is for those Christians to be filled with the knowledge of the will of God in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. The goal is not knowledge as an end in itself, or wisdom to boast about, or understanding to compare oneself with others. Rather, it is to walk worthy of the Lord—to have a pattern of life that manifests who God is.

That is easier said than done. That is why Paul was not just wishing it would happen. He was not browbeating those believers, giving them the ultimatum to shape up or they would no longer be Christians. He was not giving them a performance ultimatum. He prayed for them. He connects with God’s point of view regarding those Christians, and that moved him to pray. He did not just provide them with a list of do's and don’ts.

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Have you ever tried something that another person said worked for them, only for it to backfire on you?

That is the danger of trying to get results based on another person’s do's and don'ts, rather than starting by praying to be filled with the will of God, understanding the spiritual reasoning behind that will, and executing it step by step for the desired result.

There is nothing wrong with following the advice of others, but there is a danger in going along just to get along.

• That was what Adam did (Genesis 3).

You can do something because it appears wise, but it is a rotten fruit, full of maggots and decay, and you can’t spit it out fast enough.

What we saw with Adam was not the result of walking worthy of the Lord and fully pleasing Him (as Paul wrote in the lead verse), which is the ultimate goal of being filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

• Like Eve with Adam, King Saul told David to use his armor to fight Goliath (1 Samuel 17). That was how things worked. That was the way to go as far as the king was concerned—you should not go to war without the appropriate attire. But that was not so for David, and he gained victory over Goliath another way.

   

• It was the same with Jesus on his way to the cross. He was filled with the knowledge of God’s will for Him to do that, but not only that, He also knew the spiritual reasoning behind it. He was fully on board, and He fully cooperated with the step-by-step process that led from being a baby born in a manger to a 33-year-old man hanging on the tree for the sins of the whole world. We can assuredly say that Jesus walked worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him.

  Peter was not filled with the knowledge of the will of God in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so he told Jesus to get the idea of going to the cross from His mind (Matthew 16:23). Jesus responded by saying that Peter was not aligned with the will of God, but with the will of man.

  Jesus told Peter, "Get behind me, Satan," because Satan represents opposition to the will of God. Hence, the Bible says that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19). Opposition to and rebellion against the will of God are everywhere.

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What you are filled with is what you will produce. You cannot be filled with self-will or other people's wills and produce the will of God. As Jesus said, it is what comes out of a man that defiles the man (Matthew 15:11). He said to make the tree good, and the fruit will be good (Matthew 12:33).

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We see Paul use the word "filled" in the previous focus verse and the word "fully" here in this focus verse.

He made it clear that we are to be filled with the knowledge of the will of God as a prerequisite to fully pleasing Him. The words "full" and "fully" communicate degrees. This is definitely a lifelong pursuit. We cannot rest on our laurels when it comes to walking worthy of the Lord and fully pleasing Him.

There may be changes to be made daily, adjustments to be made, as we go on the onward journey to fully pleasing God. But we must keep it at the forefront of our minds.

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Paul ties the knowledge of the will of God with growing in the knowledge of God, pleasing Him, and bearing fruit.

Therefore, there is a danger in focusing solely on bearing fruit, rather than first and foremost being filled with the knowledge of His will.

Similarly, there is a danger in just trying to please Him based on whatever idea we can come up with (hence idol worship) without the foundation of being filled with the knowledge of His will. For example, He seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).

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Another thing to note in this discussion is that God is knowable, and we can and should grow in His knowledge.