Growth Caused by God

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE COLOSSIANS

GROWTH CAUSED BY GOD

Col 2:16-19

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

NIV

That therefore always refers back to what was just said, that Christ nailed the law to the cross canceling the written code that stood against them and us. In the context of that culture, we would have to consider for the Jews, the law included those foods which were clean and unclean. However, Paul is not writing to the Jews, but to Gentiles who have accepted Jesus as their God and Savior. Nevertheless, the same Jews who were stirring up false doctrines, teaching the Gentiles regarding the need to be circumcised may well also been teaching them about the other aspects of the law. They may have been trying to force upon them all the rules and regulations regarding types of food and drink the law permitted and types it did not as well as various festivals to observe. We still could apply this truth to our lives today as there are many Christians who have developed some affinity to observing certain aspects of the law, whether that be portions of the Old Testament Law or laws in the form of rules and regulations they have extracted from their interpretation or have imposed those aspects from traditional thoughts of the more puritanical movements of the past. Again, we have to take note that a spiritual principle is ageless, while traditions change or evolve with time and cultural norms. Setting our lives on the attempt to obey the rules and regulations and make an appearance of being a “Good Christian” is this delighting in false humility that Paul is talking about. This does not suggest we live in any manner we chose, for that would not be living in a manner that pleases the Lord. But, again, pleasing him is not about living by all the rules and regulations we have burdened ourselves with, placing ourselves under a form of law. Pleasing the Lord is all about having faith in him, doing his will, living under the influence of the Spirit. Sure, we should keep the Sabbath holy, but remember to the Jew, the Sabbath is Saturday and their Sabbath or Shabbat has extreme rules and regulations regarding doing any form of work at all. Having shared a hotel in Israel with Orthodox Jews on Shabbat, even the elevators automatically stopped at every floor and the doors opened and closed without anyone touching any buttons, for that was considered work and would violate the law regarding keeping holy the Sabbath. That is not our custom or interpretation of scripture at all. So then why do we try to keep other aspects of the law when we are not Jews or Gentiles living in that time and space? What some believers seem to do is cherry-pick, out of context, certain verses to make up a pattern they feel they need to keep. If they can keep themselves from certain rules they feel they are being a “Good Christian” which is false humility and they have lost contact with Jesus. We have to be careful not to get trapped by false teachings or the traditions of men. Our goal is to stay connected to Jesus, living in him and having Him live in us. Are there truths that guide our conduct? Absolutely! Jesus has told us that we are to love the Lord our God with every fiber of our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. He made sure we understood all the law, all the rules and regulations are wrapped up in those two. This is how we should base our lives, on the love of God and our neighbors. If we could do that, everything else would fall in place. Living in Christ and having Christ live in us allows God to cause our growth.