September 2025 Writen by Amy Davies
Welcome to our second edition exploring Colossians 2:6-7. As we continue to delve into these verses we find ourselves called to:
To me, this poses some questions -
What do we live for? What is number one on our priority list? Family, adventure, work, finances? We live in a world where so many things are grappling for top spot in our lives, not least the latest technology & the rise of smartphones, and it can be so easy to forget who and what we are living for.
Living in Him
As Christians, we are called to live our lives in Him - Jesus Christ. To live is to dwell, to make a home and place of rest, which is so needed, particularly in the current world we are living in. If we are ever to truly live out our lives in Jesus, we first need to know Jesus. Oh we can think we know Him, I could tell people all about the love and forgiveness of Jesus, I’m sure many of us can quote familiar passages of the Bible or tell others how Christ would have us live, but for many, I expect finding a time of calm in the midst of our chaos can be quite a challenge. Jesus wants us to spend time in His presence, to build a deep relationship with Him. In contemplating this, Matthew 7:21-23 comes to mind:
What a challenge! Works are a natural response to faith, yet so often we can skip ahead and place so much emphasis on our service in Jesus’ name, becoming so busy with responsibility that we miss the opportunity to truly be fed by the Source of Life. It is only in connection to Jesus that we can come to know and fulfill the will of the Father. It is possible to fill our calendars with acts of service on top of our 9-5 or family duties and suddenly become burnt out and resentful of the very thing we wanted to do for God. In John 15:5 Jesus said:
So often we seek to do things in our own strength, feeling a pressure to do it all, right now, but Jesus tells us His way is ‘easy and light’. Our Christian walk was not designed to be an additional weight we have to carry. All we need to do is to remain in Him. To lean on our Lord and Saviour. My initial thought was that we must cling onto the vine, but in reality it is the vine that holds the branch. How often we attempt to shoulder all the responsibility for ourselves, to go it alone and to grapple for control. If we could just let go and let God do the holding, the leading, the guiding, what peace we may know! One definition of the word remain is to stay in place. How often we stray! If we could just stay fixed to the one true vine - if we could just be present in His presence, what strength could we have.
A vine and its branch are an extension of one another, they are deeply rooted, completely connected. Only in their unity is the branch able to produce fruit. Just as with Jesus. As we live in Him, firmly rooted in His teaching, we begin to represent the true meaning of the phrase ‘to live’ - to be alive - alert, active, animated. A similar word for living is to flourish, as we remain in Jesus, as we rest in His presence, as we seek Him through prayer, worship and His Word - then we live and grow a little more like Him, one day at a time.
Remain in Him
When I think of a woman who remained, in the Bible, my thoughts turn to Mary Magdalene. Whilst we don’t hear an awful lot about her, mere snippets here and there, we get the picture that Mary was one who was present. We first hear about Mary Magdalene in Luke 8:1-2, where we are told:
This suggests Mary, after her deliverance, had chosen to accept the call to follow Jesus, supported by Mark 15:40-41, where Mary was amongst the women described as those who “had followed him and cared for his needs”. Later, we read of Mary Magdalene’s presence at Jesus’ death (John 19:25), burial (Matthew 27:61) and resurrection (Matthew 28).
Another translation of Colossians 2:6, found in the NLT, reads “You must continue to follow Him’. Mary Magdalene did just that. Whilst we rest in His presence to know Him more deeply, we are also called to move. Though it may feel like a contradiction, one comes from the other. We cannot rest in the Lord, receiving Him fully and sit idle. Following Mary’s encounter with Jesus, she chose to pour out her life as an act of worship, an act of grateful appreciation for His work in her life.
Walking in Him
The New King James version asks us to ‘walk in Him’, suggesting activity in our response to Jesus. To walk implies to keep moving - to go somewhere by putting one foot in front of the other, on the ground. The ground is a firm foundation, we can trust it to carry our weight, just as Jesus is the solid rock on which we stand - we can trust Him with our daily lives.
Mary’s active response to her initial encounter with Jesus is profoundly significant. Although women didn’t make up the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus, it was women who remained and responded across the story of Jesus’ life, whilst the twelve scattered at His arrest. On reading across the Gospel accounts of Mary Magdalene, amongst other women, we see a theme of movement, even in the face of adversity -
Mary stood - by the cross of Jesus
Mary watched - the crucifixion of her Saviour
Mary followed - Joseph to the tomb
Mary saw - the body of Jesus, laid in the tomb
Mary sat - opposite the tomb
Mary prepared - spices for his body for burial
Mary rested - in obedience to the Sabbath
Mary went - to the tomb, early in the morning of the third day
Mary ran - to the disciples on finding the tomb empty
Mary wept - at the loss of her Lord
Mary spoke - she verbalised her confusion, her pain and her fears
Mary turned - to Jesus
Mary cried out - to Jesus on hearing His voice
Mary worshipped - clasping His feet
Mary went and told - spreading the good news, as instructed to do so.
How much there is to learn from the life of Mary Magdalene! With Jesus as her source, as a devoted follower of her Lord, Mary did not let the shifting sands of circumstance rule her responses. Such inspiration - for me at least! I know I am guilty of living by my feelings over faith, which are blown to and fro by the storms of life, the ever changing circumstances bringing highs and lows leaving me left relating to the double minded man described in James 1:6-8. Praying one moment, doubting the next.
Mary had just witnessed the death of her dear Lord and Saviour, one who brought her from darkness into light. Just like the disciples, we can only imagine the fear, confusion and despair she must have felt that Good Friday, in the absence of her Teacher. Yet she does not flee. Still, she remains. And we see this faithful response rewarded in John 20:11-18 as Mary becomes the first witness of Jesus’ resurrection. How precious an encounter it must have been.
To be continued…