COMPREHENDING THE MAGNITUDE -- Tomorrow:
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19)
Here is something the man of God asked the Lord Himself to do. We know this is the case because he prayed for this to occur. He did not merely admonish the believers to see to it that this happened. He prayed that the "saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colossae" -- brethren whose faith in Christ Jesus and love toward all saints were widely reported -- would be filled with the knowledge of God's will IN all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Remember, we are talking about comprehending the EXTENT of our salvation--seeing its greatness. That is the meaning of "breadth, and length, and height, and depth." Salvation in Christ is "with eternal glory," and thus covers more than men are prone to believe.
Those who rivet our attention to the things of this world do great harm to us. They rob our souls and deplete our spiritual energies. The contemporary insistence of majoring on social issues and personal problems is a serious diversion from Christ. It has not yielded good fruit because it is not a good spiritual strategy! True, it has yielded countless professional job opportunities, but that is not exactly commendable.
The strength of the life of faith is its focus. It is the enormity of our salvation that allows us to focus upon it. By way of contrast, simplicity is not conducive to profitable focus.
Notice how the Apostle phrases this request. He desires for them to be "filled with the knowledge of His will in "all wisdom and spiritual understanding." Is he praying they will be able to understand the technical points of theology, so to speak? Is he anticipating their ability to satisfactorily explain tantalizing nuances of complex doctrines? Indeed not! Rather, he desires that the Colossians know salvation well enough to be able to navigate through this world to the next one. He does not want them to be ignorant of what Christ has given them.
It is possible to have a smattering of "the knowledge of His will," but that is not acceptable. One can have some "spiritual wisdom and understanding," but that does not meet the Divine requirement. The nature of justification and sanctification demands the involvement of our understanding--that we might be FILLED with knowledge and understanding.
This understanding has a twofold emphasis. First and foremost, understanding the Lord and what He is doing is essential. That will enable us to grow up into Christ in all things, which is imperative. Additionally, being able to resist the our adversary also requires this understanding.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, deliver me from all forms of ignorance that rob both my soul and my mind.