“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:12-17
In many ways right now, it seems like life is on pause. The normal everyday pace of life has been disrupted. And yet none of this is outside of the providence of God. None of this takes the Lord by surprise. We may feel like our lives are on pause but God does not.
Even though many things have to be put on pause for the foreseeable future, let us not put our faith on pause. While there may be extra time to binge watch television or read that book you never seem to find time for or play board games, let us not forget other aspects of our lives. Let us keep moving and make sure we get some exercise, as that not only helps us physically but mentally as well. (I need to remind myself of this daily.) Most of all, let us not pause our spiritual lives but use the extra time we have to make sure that we are practicing spiritual discipline.
This may be a good time to catch up on your personal Bible reading if you’ve fallen behind. Or pray more. Or sing songs of praise. While practicing these things alone or with a family do not replace public worship, we can use this time to regain an emphasis on family worship that the busyness of life seems to crowd out.
We can look to the past for strength in trying times. The Puritan church in Dorchester, Massachusetts, made the following resolution in 1677:
We covenant, as a church in Dorchester, Massachusetts, to reform our families, engaging ourselves to a conscientious care to set up and maintain the worship of God in our homes. And to walk in our homes with perfect hearts. We resolve, in a faithful discharge of all domestic duties in seeking to educate, instruct and charge our little ones and our whole households to seek to keep the ways of the Lord.
Take some time each day for singing, for prayer, for Bible reading. Gather those in your homes together as you give glory to God in the good times as well as in the trying times. May we as Christians set an example of faith to the world around us as we love our families. And let us be hands and feet to a world in fear and in need. May we be those who give hope, show peace, and share the love of Christ.
May God strengthen you in your faith this week!
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