Where We Live Shapes Our Lives
Where we live shapes who we are and who we become. The place where we lived growing up shapes our values and thought-processes and preferences and behaviors. I love hearing people’s stories. I love asking people about where they’re from and what their life was like growing up. Why? Because our past has a way of shaping our present and guiding our future.
I spent the most formative years of my life, grades one through twelve, in a small country town of less than a thousand people. We had one red light and one gas station. There were probably more animals than people in the city limits of Eustace, Texas. I grew up on ten acres with four siblings, sharing a room with my three brothers. My parents decided that we’d be the Noah’s Ark of East Texas, having at least two of every imaginable farm animal – just for fun. This meant that I learned to work outside and love the outdoors, learned to be responsible for things, learned to appreciate hard work. My mom was a teacher, then administrator, so I learned to place a high value on learning and education. My step-dad worked whatever job he could find to provide for our family, so I learned that a man is supposed to do whatever he has to do to make ends meet. My grandparents lived across the pasture from us, so I learned to value, respect, and honor those who were older than I. Where I grew up had a lasting effect on who I became.
At any point in our lives, where we live effects and shapes us. Living in DFW for over ten years now has shaped the way I live. I now have to plan for how long it’ll take to drive somewhere depending on the time of day. Traffic was never a problem in Eustace, Texas. My East Texas accent isn’t as strong as it used to be – until I go home! I find myself always being in a hurry. All of these things, I think, are a result of where I live. Where we live shapes our lives.
Living with the Vine
This is no less true in our spiritual lives. Where we live effects who we become. If we’ve trusted Christ to save us, but aren’t living with him daily, our lives won’t be transformed. If we want to live with him later in heaven but not so much now on earth, then our lives won’t produce anything of eternal value. Jesus says it this way in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Living with Jesus produces a life of fruitfulness for Jesus.
One way we “live with Jesus” is through prayer. Jesus connects fruitfulness with prayer in John 15:7-8, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” And then verse 16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” A life that makes much of Jesus is the consequence of prayer in Jesus’ name for the Father’s glory.
Living, or abiding, with Jesus produces everything that comes through prayer in Jesus’ name. This includes obedience (v. 10), joy (v. 11), love for one another (v. 12), and witness to the world (vv. 16, 27). In other words, if you want these things to exist and increase in your life, live with the Vine. Abide in Jesus through prayer. Repent of prayerlessness. Stay close to Jesus and watch what he’ll produce in your life.
Jesus’ Word Abiding in Us
One of the non-negotiable ways we stay close to Jesus is through prayer. But the other non-negotiable way is through his word. Jesus alluded to this in John 15:7, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.” Part of living with Jesus is having his words living in you. Effective prayer is the result of Jesus’ words living in us. As I said last week, the best way to grow in your prayer life is to commit yourself to the Scriptures. The Word of God will inevitably drive you to talk to God.
This begs the question: Is the Word of God living in you? Are the words of Jesus abiding in you? Are we going to be content to let another year slip by without living in God’s word? Or, more importantly, without allowing his word to live in us?
If where we live shapes who we are and where we’re going, then as followers of Jesus, we must commit ourselves to living in the words of Jesus and allowing his words to live in us. Like prayer, this is so important for our growth as Christians that the New Testament commands us to do it. One place we see this is Colossians 3:16.
“The Word of Christ”
What is the “word of Christ” that’s supposed to “dwell in us richly”? This phrase can be interpreted in two ways. It all depends on how Paul meant to use the word “of.” Either way won’t change the thrust of what he’s saying. He could mean “words about Christ,” or the gospel message. This would refer specifically to the things Jesus did. And, as all the gospels make clear, the most important thing he came to do was to die on the cross for sinners.
The phrase could also mean the “word from Christ,” referring to all the things Jesus said as recorded by the apostles. Paul probably leaves this ambiguous for us on purpose. The words spoken about Christ and the words spoken by Christ are both supposed to “dwell in us richly.” The word of the gospel and the words of the Gospels must find a home in the Christian’s life.
Don’t think that this means that the Christian should only spend time in the New Testament. Jesus himself said that the entire Old Testament is about him. Luke 24:44, “Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” And Paul says in Romans 15:4, “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that…through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” The Old Testament all points to Jesus and gives us instruction and encouragement in knowing him.
The “word of Christ” in the New and Old Testaments must, therefore, “dwell in us.” I say “must” because the verb that Paul uses here is in the imperative tense. This means it’s a command. Last week we saw in 4:2 the command to “continue steadfastly in prayer.” We talked about how prayer is a command, not a suggestion. In the same way, in Paul’s mind, letting the word of Christ dwell in us isn’t optional. It’s mandatory. It’s required. It’s obligatory. It’s not something we do if and when we feel like it or if and when we have time. It’s something we’re supposed to do. Period. Not living in the word is therefore disobedience.
“Dwell in You”
The words about or the words from Christ are to dwell in us. The word for “dwell” simply means “to live in.” So Paul is saying that Jesus’ word is supposed to live in us. The word of God should “find a home” in our lives. Our lives are to be a place where it stays. We’re to make sure that it has ample room. To make sure that it’s cared for, not cast out to live on the streets.
The word is supposed to live with us. That’s what this text plainly says. But what does that mean? How do we know if the word is living with us? How do we know if the word of God has truly found a home in our lives, rather than just shacking up with us?
One of the ways to know is to examine our lives. Does our life reflect a commitment to living out the principles and commands of God’s word? Or does our life still look like we’re ultimately committed to ourselves, to doing what we want to do?
When I meet young couples who’re living together, it doesn’t take long for me to know whether they’re living together because they’re married or living together playing like they’re married. Those who’ve committed themselves to one another in marriage talk and think and act differently. Those who’re shacking up without being married talk and think and act, in many ways, like single people, like people still ultimately living for themselves. Our commitment level in a relationship creates changes in behavior and attitude and thinking.
In the same way, we know that the Word of God has truly found a home in our lives because it is reshaping our lives. It changes the way we speak, think, act, parent, work. It changes our attitudes about money and relationships and time and government and people who’re different than us. As one commentator says, when the word dwells in us, “it becomes so deeply implanted within us as to control all our thinking.” We know the word is living in us when we see the word reshaping our lives.
For example, one unpopular area that this can happen is in whether or not couples should live together before they’re married. The word of God says to keep the marriage bed pure (Heb. 13:4), whereas the culture says to try things out before you tie the knot to make sure they’re the right one. Another area is finances. The Bible says that the “borrower is slave to the lender” (Pro. 22:7) and that debt is therefore to be avoided, whereas the culture says that debt should be accepted as a normal part of life. Another area is our work. The Bible says that we should work as if we’re working for Jesus (Col. 3:23), whereas our culture trains us to think about work as a necessary evil. Most fundamentally, however, the word of God shows us Jesus as the most important person in the universe and tells us to live for him and not for ourselves. The Bible reorients us to live in the way we were created to live, in loving and joyful relationship with the God who made us. When the Word of God lives in us, everything changes.
“Dwell in You Richly”
Notice that the word should “dwell in us richly.” The word means “abundantly,” or “in full measure.” I think what Paul means is that the Word shouldn’t live with us in the basement of the house of our lives. The words of Jesus are too precious, too valuable, too important to be stuck in a closet or a basement or an attic. Let’s face it, we all have things that “live with us” that we don’t really care about. Suzy and I have boxes of toys that I hope magically disappear one day. The mere presence of something in our house doesn’t mean that we value it or appreciate or are committed to it or love it.
God wants his word to live with us “richly.” He wants the wealth of his word to be our desire. He wants us to read the Bible because we want to, not because we have to. He wants us to be like King David who said that God’s word is better than lots of money and sweeter than the best food (Ps. 19:10, 119:103).
I’m so glad the Holy Spirit led Paul to add the word “richly” to this verse. Otherwise, we’d assume that reading the Bible was all that God was interested in. But God’s desire is that we desire his word, that we want it like we want money, that we see the wealth of it, the power and beauty of it, the intrinsic worth of it. There is, therefore, a way to read the Bible that isn’t pleasing to God. We often think we’ve pleased God by just keeping the rules. But God is after our hearts. He wants us to delight in him, and out of that delight, to obey him.
Realizing this, it’s good and wise to have a plan in place to help you in your Scripture reading. I highly recommend that you find a Bible reading plan this year and stick to it. I use the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan. It’ll take you through the whole Bible in a year, giving you five catch up days each month. The point is that you have a plan. Don’t assume that you’ll regularly feast on the riches of God’s word without a plan. A plan gives us the accountability and encouragement to delight in God’s word that our hearts need.
“In You”
The last thing I want you to see is that this “letting the word dwell in us richly” isn’t just an individual pursuit. Paul is writing to the church at Colossae, to all the Christians there. He uses the plural version of the pronoun “you.” He’s saying, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell in you, church at Colossae.”
The church must commit herself to living in the word, to loving and enjoying the word. The word must be where the church lives. This is why Paul instructs Christians to “teach and admonish one another in all wisdom.” Each member of the church has a ministry of the word. We encourage and rebuke one another from the word. We remind each other about what Jesus has said and done. We remind each other what he says about certain areas of our lives. The Bible should show up all over the place in our lives together, not just during “Bible study.” The word of Christ dwells in us as long as it finds a place in our relationships, conversations, emails, notes, prayers, worship, and fellowship. We’re a “people of the Book” because we want the Word of God to live in us, to live in our church.
The Word Has Already Come to Live with Us
Where we live effects who we are and who we become. The things that we allow to live in the house of our lives mold and shape how we think and act. Where will we live in 2018? What will live in the house of our lives this year? Are we going to be content to let another year slip by without living in God’s word? Without allowing his word to live in us?
The only thing that will properly motivate us to make room for the Bible in the house of our lives is remembering that the Word has already come to live with us. God sent his Son, the living Word of God, to live, die, and rise again for us. God promises to make us clean by trusting in the words about and the words of Jesus (John 15:3). The houses of our lives need a deep-cleaning that we can’t do on our own. So God sent Jesus to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. When we put our trust in Jesus and turn from our sin, we’re covered with the purity of God himself, so that God sees our house as clean, no matter how much of a wreck we’ve made of it.
And as we abide in him, live in him, and let his word live in us, the life of the Vine will pulsate through our lives, making us into what we never could’ve become on our own. Where will you live this year? Which room of your house will the Word of Christ be staying in this year? May God help us to live in his Word as we remember that his Word came to die for us.