City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

⁶ Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Colossians 2:6-7

⁸ And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

Joel 1:8

Reflection

“My Cousin Vinny” is one of my favorite movies of all time. If you watch the made for TV version, you won’t have to put up with some of the language.  Nevertheless, it is full of great scenes.  Marisa Tomei plays Vinny’s girlfriend/fiancé, who is employed as a hairdresser, but she is used as an expert witness in a murder trial.  What does this have to do with a devotional on being rooted in the word? 

Well, it’s about how she became an expert.  When she’s on the witness stand the prosecuting lawyer begins to ask her a series of questions to “confirm her expertise.”  She explains that she’s a hairdresser, but her father is an auto mechanic, her uncles are auto mechanics, and all her brothers are auto mechanics.  She also has pulled and rebuilt engines and transmissions, set timing, etc. 

Satisfied that she has some knowledge of auto mechanics, the prosecutor asked her a trick question.  She rejects the question.  The prosecutor accuses her of not knowing the answer.  She says no one can answer that question.  The Judge asks why can’t anyone answer this question?  Her answer is a defense that is, in a word, unshakable!

In this way, we are to spend time making ourselves rooted in Christ, by studying the word.  We must always live it and breath it.  We must not only do our homework; it must be our lifestyle.  For when we go out into the world, we are on the witness stand, with a prosecutor continually questioning the reason for our faith.  Your answers won’t come from any intellectual pursuit you may have come across, but from the private life you have lived.  Who is your father in the faith?  Your uncles, your brothers?  Who has attended to your roots?  Answer those questions and then you will know what your answers will be when you are on the witness stand.

Application

As a coda to the story of the hairdresser who was an expert in auto mechanics, I’d like to point to Vinny, the defense attorney.  Note the expression on his face, compared to the rest of the crowd.  As you look around the room, you see concern, fear, dread.  But on his face, you see satisfaction.  When God, the Father, looks upon His faithful, this is how He looks.  He knows that you are unshakable because He is the one that built your faith.

As you spend time with God, in His word, in prayer, and with His people, He builds your faith.  So, you could be a hairdresser, auto mechanic, doctor, lawyer, engineer, or even a pastor, and still give an answer for your faith that is based on the hope of glory.  That is Christ in us.

Prayer

Lord, I pray that You build our faith, attend to our faithfulness, and establish us in Your word.  I pray that You open our eyes to Your kingdom, that we might be established as citizens and full-time residents in Your holy house.  Turn our feet from evil and fill our hearts with gladness.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.