Colossians 1:9-12
9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12 Giving thanks unto the Father...
As we said before, Verse 10-12a are the effects of verse 9. These verses pivot on the phrase "That ye Might." Meaning that we cannot walk worthy unless we are filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Walking worthy means walking the walk that we talk about. If we name the name of Christ let us walk the walk of Christ. This walk is the only hope we have of "Pleasing" the Lord, "Being fruitful" and "Increasing in knowledge."
Jesus is the perfect picture of what "Walking worthy" looks likes. He Walked worthy of the title given him, "The Christ." We are not "The Christ" but we are Christians, which means little Christ. We could never live up to the name Christ but we can live up to the name Christian. As true Christians, we have Jesus Christ, our forerunner, who showed us how to walk through this world. He walked unto all pleasing, at his baptism in the Jordan God interrupted the natural course of history and spoke from heaven and said "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" [Matthew 3:17]. Jesus said in John 8:29 "The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." So we have a perfect example of what pleasing God looks like, Jesus. The Good news is that his perfection and satisfying The Father in all points means that we don't have to. Notice he says walk worthy of the Lord, not walk as the Lord. We are not expected to be perfect, that would be impossible, He was perfect for us and we should walk worthy of Him who perfected us. Does your walk reflect your freedom from sin? Or does your walk represent freedom to sin? Are you worthy of the title Christian? We know we aren't worthy of the Lord or his forgiveness but that is not the sense the verse is giving. Walking worthy of the Lord means living your life as a follower of Jesus, living in the light of his forgiveness, mercy, peace, joy, and all the other graces He has bestowed upon us. Are these graces just to be read about and talked of or are they graces that should affect our walk, our actions, our mannerisms? Certainly, his grace affects our actions, if it doesn't then we have only vain knowledge but no wisdom and understanding concerning who He is and what He wants.
This walk pleases the Lord, puts us on a fruitful path, and leads us to increased knowledge of the God we serve. On this straight and narrow way, you will find some of God's choicest fruits hanging over the path. As we walk in the footsteps of Jesus you will find that your life becomes more fruitful. Notice what type of fruitfulness this is, "Fruitful in every good work." Good works get a bad rap among some of the brethren, we have had a knee-jerk reaction to the false teachings of those who believe that good works save and we have forsaken them all together. As one man said, God does not need your good works but your neighbor does. Those who have perfect doctrine but never lend a helping hand are lacking in wisdom and understanding concerning the knowledge they have acquired. God would have you treat others as you would want to be treated. Are your good works fruitful today? When was the last time you lent a helping hand? When was the last time you were good to those who despitefully used you? Love your neighbor as yourself, you ask who is my neighbor? Go and read the story of the good samaritan for Jesus' answer to that question. Walking like Jesus means helping like Jesus, forgiving like Jesus, being patient like Jesus, and being fruitful unto every good work.
As we walk we grow. We grow in the knowledge of the one we are walking with. So it is even among humans. Have you ever walked a long distance with anyone? By the end of that walk, you knew that person better than you did before. As we spend this lifetime walking worthy, we get to know the hand of God who has steadied our steps along the way, the hand and the heart of him who has rescued us from the ditches of life when we made a misstep. He walks with me and he talks with me! How lovely these last 24 years of walking with him have been, I don't know all there is to know about him but I know more of him now than I ever have before and I am looking forward to the next 24 years of walking hand in hand with Jesus. I know more of his mercy because I've had to rely on it, I know more of his power because in my weakness his strength has been made perfect. Knowing more means doing more and being more like him. That is the maturing process called sanctification, with every step we are becoming more like the perfect all pleasing Lord. One day, like Enoch, our walk is going to end at the gates of mortality and we will take a step inside life eternal and his graces will be perfected in me. Until I walk the streets of Gold let me walk the paths of dust "worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God."
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