Category: Colossians

Take a moment to read Colossians 3:5-11 before reading the devotional below. 

When you are no longer living by rules, how do you do the right thing? Most people imagine throwing out rules and doing whatever they feel like doing. Sometimes we call that freedom. But following Jesus is about getting free from yourself. You don’t need rules because you aren’t driven by the sinful impulses that made you need rules in the first place.

There’s a clear line between who you are when you are living in sin and who you are when you are living in Christ. Today’s passage lists a host of sins, which Paul says are “lurking” within all of us. These desires must be killed in order to freely step into the new normal God has for us. And that new normal is available to anyone who wants to enter it.

Here’s your freedom for today: Jesus is all about making a new you. He’s got so much freedom just waiting for you. Imagine wearing a whole bunch of filthy rags for clothes because you don’t know any other life and then being handed a new suit. You might not even know how to put it on right away, and you have to get naked first by taking off your tattered rags. But the new look and the new you is worth it.

Take a moment to read Colossians 3:1-4 before reading the devotional below.

When you are so completely changed that your heart goes from dead to very much alive, things are never the same. This is Jesus’ transforming power. When this happens to you, you see the world from a whole different view. It’s like finding out that you have been looking at everything completely upside-down and then someone flips it right-side-up.

This chapter starts with a phrase that just hits you right between the eyes: “…set your sights on the realities of heaven…” Wow. Just sit with that for a second. There is something so hopeful and inspiring about setting your sights on realities that you have so much confidence in you don’t even need to see it first. That’s real faith. And your real life is so deeply embedded in Jesus that the only way to truly find yourself is to press in further and further into who he is. By the time the fullness of his glory shows up, you’ll be right there in the center of it all.

Here’s your freedom for today: one day your eternal hope for will become a reality. You will live in the place you long for. You will find home. If you feel like you are searching and searching for a deep sense of belonging and freedom, it is because your heart was made for that search. And you won’t stop feeling that longing until it is fulfilled eternally deep in the heart of God. While you wait for that place, don’t waste your time. There is a lot you can do to bring a piece of that home into the world right now. Go love somebody a little, make someone’s day better, and shine into dark places until you find a bit of heaven.

Take a moment to read Colossians 2:20-23 before reading the devotional below.

In case I didn’t make the point strongly enough in yesterday’s post, we get to spend another day dwelling on the truth that all your rules need to get thrown out the window. What do you think it takes to be a “good Christian”? What do you try to do to prove yourself to God? For me, I mash together the American values of productivity and “go big or go home” with spiritual ideas of doing big things for God. Is there some value in that? Sure, God can use it. But when I fall into that does it harm me? For sure. All that effort makes me forget that God just wants to sit with me.

Zoom in to verse 23: “These rules seem wise because they require strong devotion…” We can justify hanging on to our rules in a host of ways that sound super spiritual. But they do not make our hearts right. So the question is, “Why do we hold on to our rules?” I think we hold on to things that make us feel secure. If I do a “quiet time” for 15 minutes everyday in order to feel like a “good Christian,” then I can make a simple chart and track my devotion to God by checking off a box every day. The problem is that is not how God works.

Here’s your freedom for today: checking off boxes won’t get you closer to the heart of Jesus. So don’t check any boxes. Throw all your boxes away. How’s your heart condition? Can you sit with the fact that God loves you even if you don’t keep a spiritual chart? Do you truly believe he loves you even when you don’t feel like you measure up? Religion says that we need to do more good than bad to earn our way to God. Jesus says, “Let me take care of the impossible things, you just come with me.” Do you trust Jesus enough to let him save you?

Take a moment to read Colossians 2:11-15 before reading the devotional below.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to know how to disarm your enemies? Like reading the insider’s guide to their biggest weak spots. Paul gives us a hint in today’s passage: just mention the cross and the dark spiritual powers crumble. It’s described here as “public shaming.” Imagine it! Jesus’ victory over death was absolutely humiliating to Satan and his demons.

We get to share in this spectacle-making scene by participating in Jesus’ death and resurrection with him. Baptism is a symbol of this, as we descend under the water and rise up again. Circumcision was an older symbol of cutting away the flesh to mark oneself as belonging to God. Jesus now accomplishes this through a supernatural open-heart surgery. He removes our sinful nature and are brought into a new spiritual life.

Here’s your freedom for today: when Jesus changes your heart he humiliates Satan. For this reason the Enemy fights this heart reconstruction process with every power he’s got. Have you ever noticed that when you start to make progress in your spiritual journey a whole bunch of things start going wrong in your life? You’re not alone. That tug-of-war that you feel is literally just that: a pull from a spiritual war far greater than your life. Keep your head and your heart in the game — let Jesus keep cutting away and removing the flesh that doesn’t belong as he crafts you into his likeness. No matter what opposition you face in each individual battle, Jesus wins the war.

 

Take a moment to read Colossians 2:16-19 before reading the devotional below.

You may recall from our study of Galatians 5 (from 21 Days to Freedom last month) that the early Jewish Christians are having to mentally shift their understanding of God. They had a long history of relating to him through priests and sacrifices and an emphasis on the law. In yesterday’s post, Paul contrasted actual circumcision with “circumcision of the heart” which is what God really cares about. Today Paul emphasizes that rules are not what following Jesus is all about.

If we want to follow God, what should we eat? What should we drink? Does it matter? If you are extra “religious” or “pious” does that get you bonus points with God? Extra jewels in your heavenly crown? A bigger eternal mansion? No, no, no, and no. God is not impressed with these grand gestures because they actually make you an arrogant jerk. Modern-day Christians could stand to pay attention to Paul’s point here: if you want to follow Jesus, you have to stay fully connected to him.

Here’s your freedom for today: you don’t have to worry about rules. Being “good” won’t get you any closer to God and they certainly won’t make him love you any extra. You’ve got his full love and attention right here and now. But if you stay connected to Jesus through his Holy Spirit, then you will be led down a path of wisdom. Rules don’t matter because you will know the right thing to do by the Spirit’s leading. When your heart cares, you don’t need a rule. Just like a “slow down” sign in front of an elementary school playground, if you care about kids you’ll slow down whether there is a sign or not. Rules actually cheat us from examining our hearts and bringing them into alignment with Christ. Go deeper, way past rules, all the way into the heart of God.