When God is in the room, things happen. When God appears, things cannot stay the same. When the people in Colossae meet God, everything changes, not only there by them, but all over the world.

When God turns up, people do not remain the same: ⁶The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn’t diminish or weaken over time. It’s the same all over the world. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has in you. From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you’ve been hungry for more.

Paul talks about fruit. And I try to think how God’s fruit still appear in the world. With a shock I realize that I struggle to see God’s fruit. Here and there, maybe, you hear stories about people bearing fruit. But it’s nothing like the time right after Jesus came to earth.

Why not? Well, I know the fault doesn’t lie with God, because He is exactly the same. Then it must lie with us. We, who have the responsibility to spread the message in the world, no longer do so. We, who have the message of life, keep it to ourselves and keep others from really bearing fruit.

There is no better time than now to take the message to the world. Just chain yourself to the TV for one day and watch the news. You will soon realise: There is only one solution for the mess in which the world finds itself and that is the life-giving message of Jesus Christ.

Wherever Jesus’ message of salvation lands, people change radically. People forgive and put decades of fighting aside to embrace one another. Broken relationships start growing again. Boxing gloves are exchanged for tea cups. Strange things happen. People stand amazed, because when people hear the wonderful news for the first time, there is fruit, amazing fruit.

My wife and I sit on the porch listening to a guy whose life is totally broken. He really messed up. Now life has hit him, literally and figuratively, right in the face. He’s not in a good place.

It seems to me as if my wife is drowning him in the gospel and stories from the Bible, so much so that I eventually give her a kick under the table. I was afraid he would clam up, thinking we were some of those people who love throwing the Scripture at you. So she ended up apologising for all the scriptures.

Looking softly into her eyes, he said: No, never stop doing it. That is the news that I need to hear. That is all that will bring light to my life. These stories give me new hope. It’s something I can hold onto that will help me keep going.

I swallowed my doubts one by one and didn’t kick her again.

There are so many people who need God’s Word. Don’t you want to try and spread it? Just make yourself available, God will do the rest. Maybe you simply need to put some cards with Bible verses on them somewhere.

Pieter Barnard of Bridge Ministries train people to become soul saviours. He tells the following story:

“A young woman, a secretary at a big company and an introvert, attended our course. She asked how she could carry out the great commission. I gave her a card the same size as a business card. The card had six pictures one could use to explain the gospel. I challenged her to leave it on her desk. The next week she returned with a smile. She had left the card on her desk. The company’s managing director picked it up and asked her about it. She then explained each picture to him. And that was it! She had shared the gospel with someone!”

Scripture

Colossians 1:1-8

Reflection

Do the people around you need fruit?

Is God visible where you live and work?

How can you share God’s message with others?

Prayer

Hallo, Father. You’ve been asking me again and again to share your message of salvation with others. Yes, You know I’m not the in-your-face kind of person. Please help me not be embarrassed to share your message with others. Amen