Today in God’s Word

Today in God's Word—April 2023

East Tallassee Church of Christ

April 28, Colossians 2

The advertising industry exists to create desire. The ads are designed to make us dissatisfied with what we already have, and want whatever they’re selling. Then, spurred to action by our discontent, we spend money to acquire whatever it is. You know how it works. You’re not even hungry until the pizza commercial comes on, and the next thing you know, the delivery person is at the door. Your car was fine until you saw the new model zipping down the winding coastal highway in the ad. And now that the good-looking guy in the commercial brought it up, your teeth are looking a little yellow, and probably do need a whitening treatment.

Contentment is the antidote to the venom of desire. A healthy appreciation for what you have lessens the magnetic attraction of what someone is trying to sell you. It works the same way in the spiritual marketplace. Paul used strong words to describe what people were doing to the young Christians at Colossae. He counseled them, “Don’t let anyone delude you, take you captive, pass judgment on you or disqualify you.” We overcome the efforts of people who want to “sell” us something more than we have in Christ by fully appreciating what we already have in him.

If we know and believe that our spiritual understanding, wisdom and knowledge is full and complete in Christ, we won’t be led away by some scheme promising more and deeper meaning. Philosophy and tradition enslave more than they enlighten. Observing the rituals of law (circumcision, festivals and days) cannot add to the life and forgiveness that are ours in Christ. No

one who already knows the Lord Jesus should be judged by those obsessed with the shadows of him in the law. You are not inferior to or disqualified by people who claim to have special revelations. You don’t need their visions to grow to maturity in Christ.

So Paul advised his readers to be content with the wonderful fullness they have in Christ. Our appreciation and understanding of our blessings in him should grow, but we need not look beyond Christ for more meaning or fulfillment. Self-made religion and asceticism may seem to be spiritual, but Paul said they were really powerless even to control the desires of the flesh.

We express our faith in Christ by being buried and raised with Jesus in baptism. God makes us alive and forgives us, canceling the debt of our sin by nailing it to the cross of Christ. No one can add to that. No one can pass judgment on you or disqualify you when you’re in Christ. So in spite of all the appeals to do something or believe something else, stand firm in the Lord. Grow up in him. Hold to your faith, and be very thankful for what you have in him. When you realize what you have in Christ, the other offers you’ll receive lose their appeal.

From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament, Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.