March through Colossians - 2:1-5

Aha! "For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit" (2:5). So that's where it comes from!

Actually the ESV Study Bible has an intriguing note on this verse: "Because both the Colossians and Paul live 'in Christ' and possess the Spirit of God, there is a sense in which Paul is, in fact, present with them (see also 1 Cor. 5:3-5)."

I think it's appropriate for us to be challenged by Paul's example in this section (to follow him as he follows Christ, 1 Cor. 11:1). He says he wants the Colossians to know how great a struggle he had for them and other believers. O'Brien says that this struggle mentioned here and elsewhere "involves in the first place untiring toil and labor, an intense wrestling and struggle for the spread, growth and strengthening of the faith as the goal of his mission."

What do you struggle for? For what and for whom do you toil and labor? That's not a bad diagnostic question to ask yourself from time to time (or a lot). Remember what Paul labored for, and what by God's grace we can labor for too: for people to know Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

2:6-7 tomorrow.