I recently officiated a wedding in Seattle for some dear friends of mine. The verse they chose to reflect on in their ceremony was Colossians 3:12-17. Paul is writing to the church in Colossae. There is no other letter from Paul that is focused on the centrality of Christ as this letter is. In my preparation, this verse really spoke to me. Paul's telling the church, the people, to take action in becoming more like Christ. He uses words of action like “Put on” or “clothe yourselves” (depending on your translation) to encourage us as believers to become more like Christ. We are “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved” vs.12. When we went from death to life and Christ came into our lives, we didn’t leave the fallen world we live in. It’s still there, our sinful nature is still there, so the challenge now, with the help of the Holy Spirit is to set your sights on the realities of heaven.
We need to start “clothing ourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Vs. 12. It’s a practice and many times it’s difficult with the situations handed to us. The more we actively clothe ourselves in all situations, the more the Holy Spirit will form our hearts and souls towards these attributes becoming who we truly are.
The truth is, we must learn and be renewed to know our Creator and become more like Him. That is why we spend time in prayer and reading the Word. Not to fulfill a request, but to walk closer to Him, to hear His thoughts, to feel His heart, to see His actions.
Is that what your worship time looks like? Passionately drawing closer to Him to know him intimately?
Worship leaders, and I’m guilty of this as well, fall into the trap of only practicing worship in an effort to lead worship corporately. The heart is right, but the actions are wrong. Instead, our goal needs to focus on intimately drawing closer to Him through worship. We draw closer to God for our relationship with Him, and when we do lead corporately, God’s heart, desires, voice, and passion will flow out of you because you’re standing so close to Him. That’s how we lead people… that’s how we find the strength and wisdom to clothe ourselves in all situations… that’s how we let Christ rule our hearts… that’s how we find peace. As verse 11 states, “Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.”
