Proclamation:
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most
of every opportunity. Let your
conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know
how to answer everyone.” Colossians
4:5-6 (NIV)
Explanation:
These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Colossae . In this fourth and final chapter, Paul told
them that masters should be fair with slaves for they themselves have a Master
in heaven. (Colossians 4:1) Then he
advised the believers to devote themselves to prayer while being thankful, and
he asked them to pray for him. (Colossians 4:2-3) He then told them to be careful and exercise
wisdom when the interacted with non-believers.
Their speech should always be full of grace and seasoned with salt,
which was a purifying and preserving agent which was used before refrigeration. Then he offered them his farewell greetings.
(Colossians 4:7-18)
Applications:
The unsaved people of the world are watching us and making
judgments about all believers, and about Christ based upon our behavior and
conversation. It behooves us to be careful
and wise when we are around them. (Ephesians 5:15) We need to make the most of every opportunity
to be a witness for Christ, and to provide a good example of Christ-like
behavior in order to win souls for the kingdom of heaven. We need to be particularly careful with
respect to our conversation and choice of words. All that we say should be truthful, helpful,
inspiring, necessary, and kind. Our
words should have a purifying influence on those who hear us. (Ephesians 4:22
and Philippians 1:27)
