Maybe, like me, you’ve made a mess of things. You’ve given your life to Jesus, received his forgiveness, and are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit - but that hasn’t stopped you from making an unrecognizable mess of things. There are days when I’m overwhelmed by my ability to choose the wrong response; the wrong response to hardships that aren’t necessarily my fault and wrong responses to opportunities God has brought my way. It’s as if God has dressed me in wonderful “church clothes” and I immediately run outside and play in the mud, only to return to Jesus with my head hung low and hands lifted, filled with mud and shirt covered. If you can resígnate with that experience then maybe it will do your heart well, with mine, to be reminded of the ever-sufficient mercy of God.

The Apostle Paul made it his aim to face trials with a similar posture as Jesus, who “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2a). In saying Paul endured his troubles, and lived his life, in a manner worthy of Jesus we are saying his displayed similar attitude of heart and trust in the Father. Paul exhorted the church in Colossae to do the same, and God continues to encourage You and I to live worthy of Jesus as we heed Paul’s instructions.