Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. – Colossians 4:6

Scripture reading: Colossians 4:2-6

In ending this letter, Paul emphasizes two points. In calling us to prayer and to be watchful and thankful, he calls us first to seek our dependence and joy from our relationship with our Lord and Saviour.  Paul showed this dependence by asking his readers to also pray for him. In doing so, he humbly admitted that he was not a super apostle, but a human being like us who needed prayer to continue in his service.

Paul also emphasized a relationship with the world around us. He asked for prayer that he would proclaim the mystery of Christ clearly. In doing this, he showed he had a great love for his neighbors. He was often beaten and imprisoned yet he did not ask to be rescued from this; rather, he asked for the ability to speak to the lost about Jesus in such a way that they would understand it clearly. Paul calls us to have a similar concern for the people around us who do not believe the wonderful message of salvation in Jesus Christ. He tells us that our conversation should be full of grace; that is, we are to talk in a loving way with everyone, even when they do not deserve it. But our conversation should also be seasoned with salt, that is, our conversation should touch and challenge people. It should not be just about the weather or the latest sports events. In doing this, we will be able to answer people about the most important matter in life, being reconciled to God through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Suggestions for prayer

That our conversations with others will always be full of grace and seasoned with salt.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Richard Bultjes is pastor at a church plant in Niagara Falls, Ontario, called River of Life.