Colossians 2

Colossians 2

Verse 6-7 is good. Paul tells the Colossians to continue following Jesus, and let our roots grow down into Him and let our lives be built on him. Then our faith will grow strong and we will overflow with thankfulness. How do I let my roots grow deep in Him? And how do I make sure my life is build on Jesus? I feel like it is already. But maybe a sign of it weakening is when I am less thankful, or when I feel less secure in God. Not secure that He is real or that He loves me, but the feeling that "life's not fair" or when my problems begin to affect my attitude more than it should. I think one thing I need to work on more is praying more and reading the bible more. I go through seasons where I do it a lot but then not as much. I think that's normal for most people, but I want to be more consistent in it. I pray a lot throughout my day, but not as much sitting down for serious prayer time or writing it out.

In verse 8 Paul says not to be tricked into empty philosophies and nonsense from human thinking instead of Christ. I'm pretty quick to be like, "Nope. That doesn't come from the bible." That's not something I struggle with, but I know people who do.

Verse 11-12 say how we were circumcised not in a physical way but in a spiritual way when we came to Christ. Jesus was cutting away our sinful nature. This is the verse about being buried with Christ in baptism and being raised again to new life in Him. I think what is hard for me to understand about this is that even though we have a new life in Christ, we still sin and may still have the same kind of sin as non-believers (or the same sins we had before we knew Him, even though that's not the case for me since I have known Him my whole life). I know that before Christ, we don't fight against sin or we don't see the need to, but in Christ we do fight against sin and with the help of God as well. However, some sin is still huge in our lives.

In the following verses Paul says how Jesus' death on the cross is what "canceled the record of the charges against us." I think about having police show up to my door and saying, "You're going to jail for the rest of your life," and then Jesus showing up and saying, "Even though I didn't commit a crime, I will go to jail in place of Jennifer." And that sounds so crazy! Thankfully, metaphorically, He busts out of jail and then nobody has to go to jail in the end! :-)

In verses 20-23, it talks about how we don't have to follow the world's rules about things to eat or touch or handle, because those may seem wise and require strong devotion to make a selfless, "but they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires." Sometimes I think that I should eat better and exercise more, and while I should, it is not the most important thing in the world. I could be super fit and healthy, but struggle with sins in a deeper way than I am now because of my attention to how I look instead of my attention to how I fight against sin in my life. To someone who is focused on the physical aspect of things they may be thinking about how to eat gluten free, no carbs, no sugar, certain amounts of protein, certain amount of minutes a day that they exercise... and those rules and counting calories can consume someone! They can become obsessed about it - I've seen it! And in the end they have been striving after a goal for their body that will die instead of a goal for their soul which will last forever. Yes, it's great to be healthy and I want that more in my life. But am I focusing on goals in my spiritual life that enrich my life more?

"'Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.' This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it." - 1 Timothy 4:8-9

I've always liked that verse, partly because I'm like, "Yeah! I can eat chocolate and not feel bad about it!" LOL. But mostly because it is so beautifully true, that sharpening our spiritual life is so much more important than any other goals in our lives including our careers, our hobbies, and more. To get to the end of my life and say, "These are the goals I accomplished: I finished college, I had a great career, a great family, great hobbies..." will hopefully be cool things to say. But ultimately I want to say, "I gave and served in every way that I could in my life. I spread the gospel not only in other countries, but in my home in raising my children and grandchildren, and in my job and community. I fought sin, and although it won sometimes, I kept on fighting it, so I had many victories. I knew Christ in a deeper way throughout my life, and the bible became so well known to me - the only book I studied over the course of my entire life!"