DCLM Daily Manna 2025: DCLM Daily Manna 15 February 2025: The Fruit of the Gospel
Text: Colossians 1:1-6 (KJV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,
5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit*, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
KEY VERSE: Colossians 1:6
“Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth.”
It will be difficult to explain the joy of harvest to those who travel through life without ever visiting a farm or crop garden. Such joy is known only to the farmer. The farmer’s gratifications are multiple. First, he derives joy when, after preparing the soil and sowing, he watches the sprouting of the seeds and how they grow into full plants. The ultimate joy comes at harvest. The farmer is doubly joyful to see the crowning reward of his labour, realising also that the few seeds he sowed have yielded multifold.
Apostle Paul shared this peculiar joy in a spiritual sense and expressed it in today’s text. In this epistle, the Christians in Colosse were described as “saints and faithful brethren in Christ.” Information about their state was conveyed by Epaphras to Apostle Paul in Rome, where he was imprisoned. The Apostle was impressed by their remarkable and steadfast faith and love. Having laboured over them like a husbandman, he was particularly thrilled to hear that the seed of the gospel that was sown in them had germinated, grown, and was bearing pleasant fruits.
The Colossian Christians were presented with the true gospel and they received it with simplicity and sincerity of heart. This is why the grace of God worked in them to produce the quality of spiritual life described here as fruit. The whole essence of the epistle to the Colossians was to warn them about false teachers who were trying to seduce them from their commitment to Christ. This contrasts with the prevailing situation where people are finding it difficult to “endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” Of such, we must beware.
Producing “saints and faithful brethren in Christ” who bear the fruit of the gospel entails faithful teaching and commitment to the true gospel and sound doctrine. We must shun the modern form of Christianity that is easily carried away by the eloquence and smoothness of predatory preachers who make merchandise of believers, and leave them with neither enduring conviction nor genuine transformation of life.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Only the good seed sown in good soil yields a desirable harvest.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Mark 14-16
Daily Manna 15 February 2025
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