Colossians 2:6-10 (@dotsters) #BigBible

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Colossians 2:6-10

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 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. ⁹For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. NRSV

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving. The Message

How much do we believe what we have been taught about our faith? Or have we been taken captive to philosophy, consumerism, false teachers? I often wonder where people have gained their understanding of God and how we are to live our lives as Christians! Have we been rooted in our faith and do we get sidelined by ‘new’ understandings in ethics, culture, anthropology, science, philosophy etc. Please don’t think I am advocating that we don’t use our brains and think about the issues we all face, but I am asking whether or not, we sometimes forget about what our God has given us in the Bible, in Jesus and what He commanded we do. I do think we often make things out to be harder than they are, such as accepting what God has done for us through Jesus, accepting that we are loved unconditionally, and therefore making the living out of our faith to be too hard. It isn’t easy to stand up for what is pure and holy I agree, but isn’t that what we are called to do? To be blameless before Christ, because he has forgiven us, but none of us will be blameless on our own! What God expects from us is a life that is full of worship, honouring to God through trying to live a holy life. What we do is say ‘it is too hard’, ‘we need to study even harder’, ‘God can’t love or accept me’, ‘God can’t forgive me’. However that is exactly what God says and does, the hard thing is to make the choice to believe it hook, line and sinker, 100%.

How can you start to live in the present moment with God, knowing you are fully accepted and loved and that it is because of the Grace of God that we can live as free people, not bound up in the way other people, or culture would see us? We can stand up, heads held high, knowing that if we accept his forgiveness and CHOOSE to follow him daily we can live in thanksgiving and praise and freedom!! How awesome is that!!