Day 29 (Thursday): Colossians 4:2-6
Today’s Passage
Read the passage – Colossians 4:2-6
Perhaps the greatest evangelist after Jesus was Paul. Nevertheless, Paul asked for prayer that he would witness to Jesus and have opportunities to witness. He also encouraged us to make the most of our time and to be ready to answer everyone for our faith.
- What does it mean to “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone”?
Prayer
- Holy Spirit, ignite a deep and personal relationship with Jesus in each life.
- Ask God to help you to be ready to speak about your faith. Ask for opportunities to speak about Jesus with others and pray for open doors for others in our church.
Go Deeper
Anthony C. Thiselton, Colossians: A Short Exegetical and Pastoral Commentary (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020), 99–102.
“Be busily engaged in” prayer (v. 2) translates Greek proskartereite, which Danker renders “to busy oneself with, be busily engaged in, be devoted to,” alongside “persevere in,” and “continue in.” This fits evidence in Acts and Romans as well as in contemporary papyri. Wright has “devote yourselves to prayer” and Robertson has “continue steadfastly in prayer.” The Greek grēgorountes en autē means they are to engage in it (i.e., prayer) while keeping awake, being watchful, alert, or vigilant; we have substituted “while at prayer” for “in it” to explicate the pronoun “it.” Moffatt translates, “Maintain your zest for prayer.” Lightfoot argues that since long continuance in prayer is apt to produce listlessness, Paul gives the additional charge that the heart must be awake. Caird comments, “Prayer is a watchful readiness for opportunities.” Prayer and thanksgiving “should be the pervading mood of the Christian life.” Lincoln writes, “A life characterized by prayer is a recognition of our creaturely dependence on God.”
Paul asks that the Colossians remember to pray for him and his co-workers that they may have opportunities—expressed by means of the metaphor of a door opening—to proclaim Christ (v. 3). Robertson comments, “It is comforting to other preachers to see the greatest of all preachers here asking prayer that he may be set free again to preach. He uses this figure elsewhere, once of a great and open door with many adversaries in Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:8), once of an open door that he could not enter in Troas (2 Cor. 2:13).” The letter began with Paul’s assurance that he prayed for the Colossians; the final part of the letter asks them to pray for him. As Dunn observes, this underlines the indispensability of prayer for Paul and the early Pauline mission. Calvin writes, “Who, then, in this present day, would dare to despise the intercessions of brethren, which Paul openly declares himself to stand in need of?”
Paul had a gospel fire in his bones and wanted to preach, even during his captivity (v. 3), as he implies in Phil 1:12–14: “I want you to know … that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole Imperial Guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ.” But he also expresses the hope that the gospel will spread throughout the whole world (1:5–6).
Although Paul is using the word “speak” in vv. 3 and 4, MacDonald and Dunn propose “proclaim” is a more suitable translation in this context. This includes prayer for speaking with clarity and conviction concerning what was once hidden but is now revealed in the gospel. Does this imply that in spite of his wonderful preaching, Paul was “never satisfied with it” (Robertson)? What preacher, Robertson asks, can be? Paul has a clear sense of how he “ought” (Gk, dei, v. 4) to proclaim the gospel. Dunn observes that this “ought” expresses “Paul’s burning conviction and sense of destiny which no doubt sustained Paul through a ministry of astonishing exertion and suffering [and] made it so effective.”
“Walk wisely in the face of those who are outside, redeeming the moment of opportunity” (v. 5). Caird writes, “Christians are to have a sense of urgency, but it must not make them insensitive to public opinion: outsiders are not to be needlessly offended or antagonised by untimely criticisms of their way of life.” Bruce comments that in Paul’s day distorted accounts of Christian behavior and belief were in circulation; it was thus especially important that Christians should give no color to these calumnies, but should rather give the lie to them by their ordinary manner of life. Many who are not Christians, he adds, may not read the Bible or listen to the preaching of the word of God; but they can see the lives of those who do, and form their judgement accordingly. Let Christians make full use of this present time on earth of opportunity.
Here the exhortation to “redeem the time” (v. 5, repeated in Eph 5:16) seems to have special application to their duty to unbelieving neighbors. It also implies that every moment is precious. Paul has addressed the issue of how Christians must behave in the home; now it addresses how they must behave in the world. Wright comments, “Blameless life lays the foundation for gracious witness, as Christians make the most of every opportunity.”
Well-seasoned words are what is called for. Seasoned with salt was a familiar idiom in the first century. Scott observes, “In ordinary Greek this metaphor was often used for sparkling conversation.” Plutarch uses the metaphor of salt for speech, especially for witty speech. He says, “For wit is probably the tastiest condiment of all. Therefore, some call it graciousness because it makes the necessary chore of eating pleasant.” Salt also occurs in the teaching of Jesus (Matt 5:13; Mark 9:49–50; Luke 14:34–35). NJB has: “Always talk pleasantly and with a flavor of wit.” Dunn states that this excludes the notion of the church as a “holy huddle,” which speaks only “the language of Zion” to insiders …, but is engaged in regular conversation with others.” He adds that this picture is as far as we can imagine from that of the Christian who has no interest in affairs outside those of faith or church and no “small talk.” “Such conversations, however, regularly and quite naturally throw up opportunities to bear more specific Christian witness—not as something artificially added on to a ‘secular’ conversation, nor requiring special language or manner of speaking, but as part of a typical exchange of opinions and ideas.”
