COLOR IN THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN


As a child, I have always loved to play with paintings but what interests me about paintings is color. I love the colorful look of paintings. This made me to draw a conclusion that most things we consider beautiful are made so by the color they have. Consider the greenness of the grass or the whiteness of the snow, birds and other animals too, the lovely color of peacock and wonderful look of the Zebra, all these are appreciated because of color.

Human beings also use colors to beautify the natural color of their skin either through make up or dresses. Color could also be used to confer a wish or a prayer as in "May you pass out with flying colors"

But as I grew up I began to see more to color than just beautification, but what puts a lasting memory in the minds of people. I noticed that even if a child does not know the brand of his father's car the color of the car puts the picture of the car in his mind. As a child, I knew the color of my father's car first before knowing the tag number. Color also differentiates two things from another

For the purpose of this message we shall be looking at the functions of color. Through these functions, we shall look at color in the life of a Christian and what it stands for. In Gen 9; 1 – 17

 Gen 9:11
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Gen 9:12
And God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
Gen 9:13
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Gen 9:14
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
Gen 9:15
And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
Gen 9:16
 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
Gen 9:17
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth

This function of color was shown to us when God wiped out the whole earth with flood. God used Rainbow as a sign of covenant between man and God and just like we know, Rainbow is made of colors, so it is right to say God put color to present His word which He gave to Noah as an assurance.
Also in Gen 37: 3

        Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his
                                   children, because he was the son of his old age:
                                        and he made him a coat of many colors

Jacob, now known as Israel used color to present his feelings that he loved Joseph his son. But one thing stands in these two stories, color was used as a binding word and also as a sign to remember those words.

My mind draws to something in the story of "Joseph's coat of many colors" which brings up a question in my mind; why would the father use a colorful thing to express his love? As I wonder about this, the saying that every good inspiration comes from God hit my mind and I believe that Jacob was unconsciously assuring and confirming the word of God concerning the dream he (Joseph) had, i.e. while showing his love, he was at the same time telling Joseph that whenever you look at these colors, remember your dream which is the will of God for you just as it was in the days of Noah when God spoke concerning the sighting of the Rainbow.

Color, with reference to these two stories refer to the spoken word of God which reminds us of the covenant or promise or will of God for our lives. The word of God is what reminds us of the promises, covenant and will of God for our lives. In order to constantly remember these promises, covenants and will, we must not let the word depart from us.  We should mediate upon it day and night. Also it  is the word that builds up our faith and it's our faith that gives us hope and it's hope that brings result Rom 10;17

            Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and
                                          hearing by the word of God.

The bible also tells us that the word of God is our sword with which we can fight the devil just like our Lord Jesus used the word against Satan and He said "it is written …" In Rev 12 ; 11 the bible told us that we overcome the devil by the blood and the word of our testimony.
       
            Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the
                                             Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;
                                             and they loved not their lives unto the death

The word of God is equally a light which shows us the way Psalm 119; 105. Any Christian that does not have the word of God in his life is in darkness and we all know that it is only the devil that operates in darkness. As a child of God, our lives must shine like the star and when the star shines, darkness disappears. The bible equally confirms this by saying "we are the light of the world" and as such we must let our light shine.

A Christian without the word of God is empty and as such can not fight the devil. What can a soldier do in battle without his gun? Can a cop stop a thief without a weapon? The obvious answer is NO. Therefore a Christian without the word is empty and a prey for the devil to feed.

If you look at the story of Joseph, two things will strike your mind, the removal of the coat before he was sold out and the presentation of the coat to the father as a sign that Joseph has been devoured by a dangerous animal. The first thing the devil takes away before attacking a Christian is the word, because he knows that it is only with the word that you can overcome him and secondly it is this same word that he uses to present his case against a Christian in God's presence and on the  day of judgment.

There are many ways the devil takes the word from Christians. amongst these ways are making one lazy to read the  bible, finding excuses not to attend church services and avoiding the fellowship of the brethren. The life of a Christian without the word of God is meaningless, hopeless and colorless and when this happens, sin comes in and destruction follows. A Christian's life without beautification by the word of God is a wasted life and such life cannot fulfill the will of God. This is because there is nothing to keep His will, promises and covenant in mind. As we step out each day and appreciate the  colorful scenery of our surroundings and true  color of nature,  let us always have it at the back of our minds that the color we see is a sign to remind us of God's covenant, promises and will for our lives which is contained in His word. God has used color to immortalize His word in us.

God bless you. Amen!