Let the Word of Christ Dwell...

This is not lesson two from Let Your Light Shine, but the words of the following verse have been repeating again and again through my thoughts for the past two days, so I thought I might share them...

"Let 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."      Colossians 3:16

I have a Bible verse app as the wallpaper on my phone, and a couple of days ago Colossians 3:16 popped up. One word caught my attention in particular: dwell. "Let the word of Christ dwell."

I began to think of the other things that dwell inside me--my heart, my stomach, my bones, muscles, you get the idea. We'll stop there before we get too graphic. Those body parts just reside inside my body (dwell), functioning, giving me life, keeping me going.

Colossians 3:16 tells me that the word of Christ is also supposed to dwell inside me, with all my body parts. How does it dwell?

The psalmist says in Psalm 119:15:

          I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.

                                 In verse 97:
                                           
                                             Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.

Reading, studying, meditating, praying. Oh how I fail to do this consistently! I dwell on a lot of garbage far more than the word of Christ; far more than eternity! Lord forgive me!

If I dwell,  I think the word of Christ functions quite the same as my other body parts--giving me life, keeping me going. Without it, spiritually I cease propelling forward. When I think of who I am--fleshly, natural me--without the word of Christ dwelling in me, I am wretched. I catch glimpses of that ugly flesh now and again, and every time become acutely aware of the kind of person I'd be without Christ. The things that tempt me, my knee-jerk reaction to what life throws at me, my harsh judgements; these all make me see a picture of Angie without the word of Christ dwelling in me.

Without the word dwelling in me, I also lack the wisdom to encourage others and spur them on to love and good deeds. And this is so important in the faith. Fellowship with other believers and productive conversation on the word enriches my walk tremendously. Many times I don't realize how much I gain from it until I've gone without it for a period of time. I feel so energized and stirred when I am once again engaged.

The remainder of Colossians 3:16 is icing on the cake! Praise and worship with a heart of gratitude. How can the word of Christ really dwell in us without us then being motivated into praise and thanksgiving? Impossible! Praise the Lord, His word sustains us and "through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him" (2 Cor. 2:14)! 

We're studying human anatomy right now in our homeschool science. I think as I picture all my other body systems alive and well dwelling inside of me, I'm going to picture the word of Christ right along side!