Today's Scripture
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: Nahum 1-3; Colossians 2
Fullness of Life in Christ – Colossians 2:6-23
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives[b] in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe,[c] and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision,[d] by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God[e] made you[f] alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed[g] the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling[h] on visions,[i] puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking,[j] 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe,[k] why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
In the time Colossians received this letter from Paul, they were under two external pressure. One from the culture, which considered Christianity as one more deity among the other gods. In such an atmosphere, fully committing to a foreign God can seem to be unheard of. On the other hand, they were also falsely taught for them to be included in the way of Christ entirely, they needed to follow the rules of Judaism.
Paul simply presents the solution to get out of such rut by saying, “continue to live [their] lives in him.” Eugene Peterson says, “You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him.”
When we live in Christ, no pressure to conform to the world, nor following rules of any religion, has no power over us. It is when we do not abide in Christ, we search for alternatives. Instead of searching for other ways, what if we find ways to abid in him more?
Prayer
Lord, help us live in your love. Help us to abide in you today!
In Christ Name we pray, AMEN.
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