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.