can you hear faith?

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ always concerning you through prayer, after we heard your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have toward all the saints… Colossians 1:3-4

 

Even though darkness still laid siege to my room, I knew morning would soon drive it away. I heard the morning coming. It winded its horn of victory over the night in the form of twittering birds outside my window. I heard the morning through the actions of those who knew it was coming without an alarm clock. 

The Colossians resemble those birds. Paul also desired that darkness be swept away in every place, yet he could not be in every place at once. Nevertheless, he listened for the sound of morning all across the Roman Empire in the form of faith. And he heard it. What bird chirped out the victory of the Son over darkness that Paul heard while in prison in Rome? What bird told Paul that faith was rising in the Colossian believers? The Colossians’ actions sounded this victory. In the same way that the actions of the birds told me morning was near, the actions of the Colossian believers told Paul they had faith.

What was this signal that faith existed in Colossae? They loved one another. They did not just hang out together and smile on Sunday mornings. In another letter Paul describes in great detail what he means by love. For Paul, it is not a two-cent emotional word he throws around. Love acts, and 1 Corinthians 13 spells out in great detail what the life of someone who exhibits this characteristic must look like to qualify. 

If I were to visit with one of your friends about you, would I hear faith? I would if I knew you loved them in a 1 Corinthians 13 way.

~ by Michael on April 26, 2008.