Bible Study

September 2, 2025

Colossians 4:1 -5 CSB)

“Lifestyles”

“Masters, deal with your slaves justly and fairly, since you know that you too have a Master in heaven. 2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, 4 so that I may make it known as I should. 5 Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.”

Paul begins by reminding the church that anyone who had a slave should treat them justly. Many people in Biblical had slaves who served them. New Testaments, but generally involved a position of not the form of slavery seen in American history. In the Old Testament Hebrew servitude was often a form of a person bound by contract to work for a set period, mostly the poor, with rights to freedom after six years or release in the Year of Jubilee, along with protections against severe abuse. Sometime you might want to do a study on the year of jubilee and what it brought to those of the day. New Testament slaves were to serve their masters sincerely, with masters called to treat them with respect, while understanding that God is the ultimate Master, and there is no favoritism in heaven.

He then goes into a message about prayer and the reference here is to be “courageously persistent” prayer in your prayer life. He uses the term ‘say alert” here and most likely he meant to be specific in our prayers asking for what is needed in a specific words not generalities. It was not the idea of staying awake to pray but be intentional in your need.

When we pray often times God opens a door for us to minister to one another. A lady in church this past Sunday shared about praying for someone. I have often mentioned to people that prayers do not need to be long so I asked her how long her prayer was and she said, “maybe a minute.” The “door” becomes an opportunity.

He concludes our study today with these words “”Act wisely” toward others. How do we win people to a changed lifestyle when we act unwisely, say the wrong thing, go to wrong places? We are called to be evangelistic which includes our lifestyle. We must live the Gospel.

God Bless.