On Sunday evening, Fellowship Reformed Church in Mt Pleasant, MI welcomed a guest speaker, Benjamin Ault. Mr. Ault is a Pastoral Resident at University Reformed Church (PCA) in East Lansing, MI.  And Mr. Ault exhorted us from from Colossians 4:2-6, making the case that the Spirit of God, speaking through the apostle Paul, had an important point to make in these verses for the people of God throughout history. Namely, our private devotion to God should be matched with (and should contribute to) our public witness.

The sermon text from Colossians 4:2-6 is stated here: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Mr. Ault explained how verses 2 and 3 lay out the importance of a Christian’s private devotion. Specifically, great attention is placed on the significance of prayer. The text urges us to pray steadfastly, watchfully, and thankfully. And we ought to remember to pray for the men on the job, the moments of opportunity God gives us, and for the message of Christ to be proclaimed clearly.

But Mr. Ault went on to point out that this devotion should also promote a rigor and realness in our witness to others. Rather than being wise in worldly ways (succeeding in school or work) and failing in spiritual wisdom, Mr. Ault pointed out the importance of our private life leading to joyful proclamation of Jesus. We can and should aim to be prepared for the opportunities we have to speak of Jesus, with all wisdom and readiness. We shouldn’t be seasick Christians, who have different movements in our private devotion than we have in our public witness. Instead, healthy Christians will generally be moving forward proportionately in both.