Thursday, October 16, 2014

Do Good Works Always Equal Good Fruit?

"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;"
Colossians 1:9, 10 (NKJV)

Everyone likes to get maximum results; everyone likes to see that what they do is successful and accomplishes something.  No one wants to spend time doing something that is nothing but a waste of time and energy.  Wouldn't it be sad to spend hours and hours working on some project that you later find out to be unimportant and not even necessary?  We all want to be sure that the things we are doing really matter.  How can we be certain that we are making the best use of our time and not just wasting time?  The answer is in knowing the plan and purpose God has for our life.

God has a plan for everyone, not just for pastors, missionaries, or other ministers.  We must know and understand God's plan for our life or we will spend our time doing things that we were never meant to do.  There are many, many good things we can find to do in life but just because something is good to do does not mean we should automatically do it or that it is the right thing to do.  This is what I believe Colossians 1:9, 10 is talking about.  We want to be fruitful in every good work but to do so we need to be doing the right good works.

God has called us to do good works, this is something we see throughout the New Testament.  But, God has a specific plan for each person's life and while there are some general good works that everyone can do, like walking in love, there are some specific things that God has planned for us to do.  The key is being filled with the knowledge of God's will and having the wisdom and understanding necessary to fulfill that will.  We find God's will in God's Word, the Bible.  Start by doing the things you know are good to do and allow God to move you on from there to the specific plan He has for your life.

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