For this, I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
– Colossians 1:29
What a great verse. Well, a multitude of great verses in Colossians 1. But right before this, Paul talks about how God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles, among the nations, the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We prayed according to this in Galatians 2:20 that, as followers of Jesus, we’ve been crucified with Christ. We no longer live, but Christ lives in us.
Colossians 1:29 Teaches Us that Christ is at Work Within Us
Just that reality. Christ in you, today. If you’re a follower of Jesus, he’s not outside of you. He is in you. His Spirit is dwelling inside you. The life of Christ is in you. You are united with Christ. And so then, in verse 28, following on this declaration that Christ is in you, this glorious mystery, Paul says, “So we proclaim Christ because he’s in us so we share him with others.” We tell about him to others so that we may present others mature in Christ so we can help them experience the life of Christ. Then he says, in verse 29, “For this, I toil, I work. I work hard, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully works within me.”
As you hear that voice, I just want to encourage you today for all who are in Christ and Christ is in you. That means his energy, his strength, his power is at work within you. I say this because I know, well, if you’re like me, you feel pretty weak in a variety of ways when it comes to all that God has called you to do. I think about my own life. To be the man God is calling me to be, the husband God is calling me to be, the dad God is calling me to be, the pastor or whatever vocation you have to do this vocation in the way God calls us to, to make disciples of the nations, to be holy, to flee idolatry and immorality, to resist temptation, to walk with him, to work for others good, to love others as ourselves.
Colossians 1:29 Teaches Us that Christ Empowers Us to do the Things He Called Us to do.
I’m just getting started, all the different things God’s called us to do. I can’t do any of those things apart from his power at work within me, and neither can you. The good news of Colossians 1:29 is you don’t have to, that this life and even the struggles, the way Paul uses this word in toil, that sometimes you feel in this life that is exhausting and overwhelming, ultimately, points us to a power, to strength, to energy that is supernaturally residing inside of us. I just want to pray for this strength over your life today.
God, I pray that you would help us all to realize our weakness without you. God, help us to realize what you said, Jesus, in John 15:5, that apart from you, we can do nothing. That every good gift, every good thing in our lives or every good thing we want to do will only come from your grace. And so, we say together, we need you and, specifically, we need your energy that you powerfully work within us. Lord Jesus, and we praise you for this reality.
This Verse Encourages to Push Forward in the Power of the Spirit
Oh God, that the Spirit of Jesus dwells inside of us, the one who spoke and the wind and the waves obeyed, the one who turned just a few loaves and couple of fish into food for 5,000 people, the one who rose from the dead. His Spirit lives in us. God’s power dwells in us. His energy to use this word from your Word in Colossians 1:29. Help us all today to toil, to struggle, to work out of the overflow of our weakness and your strength in us.
God, we pray that you’d help us to do this toward the end that verse 28 talks about that we might proclaim you, that we might lead others to life in you. God, we can’t do that. We can’t lead others to life in you. Only you can do that in us and through us. We pray that you would do that. The lives of people around us today, help us to point them to Jesus. As Christ is in us, help us to proclaim Christ to them.
Prayer for the Hemshin People
God, we pray for people around the world who’ve never even heard his name or the truth about him. For the Hemshin people of Turkey and Russia and Kyrgyzstan, hardly any known, if any known, followers of Jesus at all, most of whom have no knowledge of Jesus in this Muslim people group. God, we pray, intercede right now for the Hemshin people of Turkey and Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Please, God, cause the good news of Christ to be proclaimed. Yes, among the Gentiles and, specifically, among the Hemshin people and all the peoples of the world, so that they might know the glory of this mystery of Christ in them. God, we pray all this according to your Word in Colossians 1:29. In the name of the one who dwells in us, in Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
