Devotional

 Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (KJV)

This verse made no sense to me as a kid. I imagined people launching into the twenty-third Psalm as part of dinner conversation, or maybe bursting into a rousing rendition of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” in the grocery store. Who walks around admonishing one another in psalms and hymns?

If that’s the way we were supposed to talk to each other, well, frankly, it seemed dead boring to my thirteen year old mind. And embarrassing. I hoped my parents wouldn’t get the idea to take this verse too literally and expect me to try it.

I already listened to my dad preach every Sunday. That seemed to be the appropriate place for teaching with psalms. Of course, pastors are supposed to do this. No one would be shocked for the preacher to quote scripture in everyday conversation. It’s kind of his job.

But my thirty-five year old self sees this verse in a new light. Recent Facebook statuses, emails, phone calls and face to face chats indicate that many people in my life talk this way. And they don’t sound bizarre when they do it. Somewhere along the way, I started doing it, too.

In fact, sometimes there is simply nothing more appropriate to say. Sometimes a line from a cherished hymn brings comfort to a hurting spirit. Or a favorite verse speaks to a situation more eloquently than anything the human heart can devise.

But how do I do this without coming across as pompous and overbearing or worse, fake?

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” I can’t share what I don’t have. Only when I spend time in the Word, allow it to dwell in my spirit, and absorb its wisdom into my soul will I have the means to share it with those around me who need what I have.

I’ve discovered that as the Word dwells in me, I find myself singing in my heart to my Lord.

And maybe even humming “Great is Thy Faithfulness” at the grocery store.

This devotion is written by Lynn Huggins Blackburn - She is the daughter of Pastor Ken Huggins and wife Susie. She lives in Greenville, SC with her family.