screaming

Colossians 3:1-17 (NIV)…
1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.

8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

I suppose I could go on about this some more; wouldn’t that be fun?! I keep waiting for this to get old but every time I sit down here I am urged to write more. Sometimes I question the urge and choose not to write. Other times I walk away convinced that my mind is not right at the moment and my mental position is possibly in question. Sometimes I just shake my head and wonder if it makes any difference at all.

Today was one of the times where I was urged and so chose to respond by acting. My inspiration at this moment comes from receiving an email with the verse of the day. I value that email and today was no different. Occasionally I read the verse and delete it. Other times I save it intentionally with the plan to use it in a blog post. Today however I was immediately struck with the desire to scream it out on paper in the form of my writing.

I know that Paul was battling Colosse, an ancient philosopher of his day, but Paul’s words are as important today as they were then. Verse 8 tells us what we are to get rid of, then verse 15 sums up how we are to live following our transformation in Christ.

If you want to scream with me I’ll understand.