Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19) (NRSV)
Read Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19) on biblegateway.com
Verse 6As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, Verse 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Verse 8See 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, and not according to Christ. Verse 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, Verse 10and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. Verse 11In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; Verse 12when 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.
Verse 13And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, Verse 14erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. Verse 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
Verse 16Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. Verse 17These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Verse 18Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, Verse 19and 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.
Devotion
See to it that no one takes you captive, Paul warns the Colossians, who were embroiled in arguments that sound a lot like stuff Christians have squabbled about for 2,000 years. But it is easy indeed to insist that our particular insights or school of thought is more correct than others'. Christ is the head, Paul reminds them (and us). That's where all our strength comes from.
In a time when we are reminded daily of the tragic outcomes of those who are so religiously zealous and certain, we give life to the world by insisting that knowing this God whom we have encountered in Jesus Christ is sufficient. We needn’t argue or persuade—that's the Holy Spirit's work. Ours is to live lives that follow the God who lives in us.
Prayer
O God, help us to order our lives so that our devotions, rituals, worship and work are all centered in you. Keep us from using our particular practices to judge others, but may our practices always bring us back to your presence. Help us to be open to the devotional practices of others, that we might grow in our own devotion and awe. Amen.