Dwell Richly

Had a mini picnic with God in the middle of a huge football field. It was cold, but beautiful outside!

My takeaway from today is DWELL RICHLY. Colossians 3:16-17 commands us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. To dwell is to live or reside, to influence. We are God's holy temple and He lives in us. If the Word is not dwelling in us, then what is? What are we reading or doing instead?

The Word 'let' tells us that it begins with a decision. We need to make the decision to let Scripture live and reside in us and influence us. Just reading it isn't enough. We need to absorb it and let it be living and active in us, let it cut and penetrate us, let it reveal the sin and ungodliness in us and let it rebuild us.

And the Word needs to dwell richly. The Word needs to be in us in abundance, it needs to flow generously out of us in full measure. Richly is limitless, inexhaustible. It doesn't run out.

For the Word to be in us richly, we need to be in it richly. The word can't dwell in us richly if we rarely, sometimes or never read it. And if we rarely, sometimes or never read it, how can we teach and admonish each other with all wisdom? We'll just end up speaking empty words that lack power and the wisdom of God. And we just become hypocrites.

Is it possible for the Word to dwell in us poorly? Yes, it is. If you're living in a home but your experience is very poor, it's probably because the home is not being managed or maintained well. Maybe there are cleanliness or pest control issues. Maybe the neighborhood is bad. Maybe the other tenants, if any, are not ideal.

In the same way, the Word can dwell in us poorly if we're not taking care of ourselves physically and spiritually, if we're letting sin fester in our hearts, if our surroundings and the people we spend time with and the things we spend time doing are hindering, instead of benefiting us.

As a professional who's been in the property management field for over 15 years, I've seen poor dwellings. And I don't intend to be one!