Day 11: 2018 WISDOM— Are You up For F.O.M.O?
'Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.’—Colossians 3:16
('teach and admonish one another with all wisdom'—Colossians 3:16): Wisdom—Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash
Blog #013
Gripped by F.O.M.O!
For me F.O.M.O, a Fear Of Missing Out, has a grip on my life. A couple of weeks ago I fell sick with the cold. For the common person with the common cold and … with common sense, recovery is translated to taking medication regularly, resting and drinking lots of water. But …
I didn’t exactly follow this outline for recovery but instead had late nights, a 5km morning run, swam at the beach and worse than that jumped off the pier with my mates.
My “F.O.M.O’ couldn’t stand the possibility of missing out!
I didn’t just jump once, I jumped three times until no one else continued.
Yes, you guessed it, I came out of the water worse off. I was shaking like a leaf.
F.O.M.O. the wisest way to live?
You're either thinking he is crazy, or I’m so glad I don’t have F.O.M.O or possibly 'I would have done the same!' In many cases my F.O.M.O has come through and proved a blessing.
Maybe F.O.M.O is the wisest way of living after all.
Imagine
As we go through this month of fasting one of my prayers is that as a church we are all struck with F.O.M.O.
Imagine if we were people who feared missing an opportunity to spend time with other believers.
Imagine the impact on our walk with Jesus, if we jumped into relationships with faith.
Colossians 3:16 (NIV) says “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
As I unpacked this verse I saw the power that was in it. To me it is clear that as we live with one another the word of Christ finds a place within us.
Feel at home
The word “dwell” means to ‘feel at home’.
There is no doubt that if God was to feel at home within us He would inevitably change our lives.
If you look back to Col 1:28, Paul reveals that to “teach and admonish” was a role given to the teachers of the Word, fast tract to Col 3:16 and here he shows that teaching and admonishing is now the role of the people of God to impart to other believers.
Wise living
Crazy to see God has given this role to all his people!
It is our role to teach and admonish one another—this is wise living.
Not only are we called to teach and admonish but as we live with God at the centre, dwelling among us we are called to support and challenge one another.
In further support of this topic in Romans, Paul also makes it clear to us that God gives us endurance and encouragement as we live in one mind and with one voice with each other.
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had so that with one mind and with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:5–7
For me living among other Christians who used God’s wisdom to teach, support and challenge each other was never something apart of my life.
It was a year and a bit ago when I turned up to Spark Youth only knowing one other youth person who I planned to follow all night long.
Skip ahead a year and a bit and God has placed a group of friends in my life who spend heaps of time with each other and challenge, teach and support each other in all our situations we are going through.
Don't miss out!
The environment we now hold is one where missing out is most definitely feared.
From a person who struggled to spend time in Gods word, through the challenge and support of others I have worked through this and become a person who now finds it a joy to spend time in Gods word daily.
What a blessing it is to partner and have people in my life that help me in my walk with Jesus.
I pray God will continue to use my relationships where unity is evident to help me grow and to help others grow.
Yes, I am young with little life experience … but through my own experiences I can say that if we were all to hold a fear of missing out (okay maybe not jumping off piers, but jumping into situations that God could use to build each other up), and then act on that fear, God would change hearts and build unity.
Today's Reflection:
Imagine what it would be like to feel F.O.M.O. in relation to:
the things with God:
Missing a prayer gathering, missing out on church on a Sunday, that outside of church outing, a powerful move of God?
Or do these things just pass by without any feeling of missing out?
Today's challenge:
When was the last time you got together with a group of like-minded believers who supported and also challenged you to grow in your walk with Jesus.
Write down 5 words or emotions you feel when you think about missing these events, I hope that when I write my words that ‘indifferent’ doesn’t get a mention.
If you have Missed Out in the last week or two what are you going do about this?
Join the conversation
If you found Luke's devotion encouraging, inspiring, confronting, even amusing, please take a minute to leave a message of thanks and encouragement. Thanks!
