Let’s See, Where Was I?

Colossians 2:6-15

 

 

Have you ever started to do something; been distracted by something else; and then forgot what it was that you started to do in the first place? They say that women can multi-task better than men. “They” being women. Personally, I don’t know if this issue is a gender thing, an age thing or just a thing; but it happens to all of us.

 

Paul was concerned for the Colossian believers that they might get distracted. He warned them to, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

 

He also reminded the Colossians about what it was like before the circumcision of their hearts. That is, about their evil desires and being dead in their sins; but also how Christ had changed them.

 

"When you came to Christ, he set you free from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls.”

 

Just like with the Colossians, there are many distractions that tempt us to lose our focus; forget what it was that we were doing. We get caught up in the details of living; the struggles, the pain, the temptations; and we forget.

 

So how do we get back on track; regain our focus; remember what it was that we were doing in the first place? Paul had this to say:

 

“And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with him. Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught.”

 

“For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ.” Let me repeat that. “You have everything when you have Christ and you are filled with God through your union with Christ”.

 

Therefore, how do we get back on track? We need reminders. We need accountability. We need to grow in Christ. We need to refocus.

 

Let’s see, where was I? What was I doing? Oh yeah, I was following Christ when I got distracted; when I started looking elsewhere to find purpose and answers; when life knocked me down and I turned to my old ways to deal with it.


But now I remember: “I have everything when I have Christ, and I am filled with God through my union with Christ”. I think I’m good to go now.

 

 

 

What More Can We Ask For?

Colossians 2:6-15

 

  

Close your eyes and think of a time when you felt ecstatic; when life felt like it couldn’t get any better. Was it one of the following?

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Your first child or grandchild was born.
2. Your wedding day.
3. The day your children graduated.
4. Making a big sale or getting that promotion you worked so hard for.

 

What you thought of may have been one of these or something else. The fact is, that this world makes a lot of promises it can’t keep. Do you remember this jingle from 1970? “When you say Budweiser, you’ve said it all.” That’s a bold statement that would seem to indicate that Budweiser can give us fullness in our life.

 

God promises fullness of life. In the Living Bible verses 9-10 read like this: “For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ.”

 

“In Christ you have been brought to fullness” so that “you have everything when you have Christ”. Life can’t get any better than this. God promises it.

 

And yet, life pulls at our hearts to seek the fullness that we so desperately desire in other ways. Oftentimes, it is something good that our human nature distorts like our career, our possessions, church or even our family. Or it can be something like drinking or drugs, sex, gambling or other addictive behaviors.

 

God has given us freedom to experience His fullness. Verse 11 reads: “When you came to Christ, he set you free from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls.” And then verse 14 states: “He took this list of sins and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.”

 

Blaise Pascal is credited with this quote: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

 

God has created us to experience the fullness of Jesus in our lives. What more can we ask for?

 

(Tomorrow there will be another posting on these verses with a completely different theme. Be sure to read it.)