Daily Bible Reading 10th August 2025 // Colossians 4:2-6
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 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— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Paul immediately balances prayer and preaching with Christian living and personal witness. He asserts that the believer's responsibility is not only to speak to God about people but also to speak to people about God. The spiritual wisdom in these two brief verses has great practical value, and when rightly understood will go a long way to remedy much harm that has been done in the past and much guilt that has been heaped upon Christians, in the name of evangelical witness. Paul's imperative cuts across much that has been taught on the subject of personal evangelism and is marked, in all of its urgency, by a gentle sanity and realism (vv 5-6). What Paul is advocating for the believer is what he has already, by implication, advocated for the Church as a whole, namely indirect influence. The believer is to look for many opportunities of what has been called 'responsive evangelisms'. Much harm can be done by sincere believing people who feel compelled to preach and testify to those with whom they mix in the local community and at work. They plunge in bravely but more often than not they succeed only in alienating their neighbours and workmates and isolating themselves: Dick Lucas has rightly said that:
...direct assault on entrenched apathy ...is seldom successful and can never be carried out by normally sensitive people without great cost to nerve and confidence.