Colossians 3:16-17 (NLT)
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

The apostle says we have heard the Good News of the salvation that comes from Christ, but we must do more than just hear; we must let Christ fill our lives with the richness He offers. We should take the wisdom we have been given and share it with others. We need to be thankful for the new lives we have been given in Christ and let ourselves be joyful that this world is temporary compared to the eternal life with Christ. We are agents, representatives of Christ, our lives should express the love that has been given to us.


The Reverend Sam Duree is a retired United Methodist pastor. Even thought he is 77 years old, he spends 4 hours a day making bird houses to sell. The money is not used on him or his family; instead he donates it to the Russian United Methodist Theological Seminary to train pastors. Sam has sold over 3,000 of his bird houses, which many are designed to look like churches. The sales of the bird houses have generated over $85,000 for the seminary. When Russia collapsed in 1991 there was not one Methodist Church inside of Russia. Today there are 120 Methodist Churches each with a trained pastor from the seminary. The Lord can use us in many ways to teach and counsel others. He gives us wisdom to put our talents to work and share with others. Like Sam we should be thankful for the days we have been given here on earth and use them wisely to help others. Let us represent Christ in the best ways we can showing our love and concern for others.