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. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:8-10)
The moment you believe in God’s love for you in Jesus, watch out! Why? The devil’s going to try to rip that away from you. Have you noticed that in your life? The moments when you are closest to Jesus and his Word seem to always be the moments when the devil strikes with his temptations.
So Paul writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human traditions and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”
The devil wants to take you captive. Not physically. Spiritually. There are false ideas that are trying to drag you off into slavery. How? By focusing you on human traditions rather than on Christ. By focusing you on human rules rather than on God’s grace. Watch out! False beliefs hold on to you like chains.
Especially this one: “To be close to God, you need to follow the rules.” That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? This is how the world works: If you do the right things, it will work out. We Christians buy into it. “If we had more Christian laws… If we just get people to do the right thing… Then we’d be close to God.” Does that make sense? Yes! It’s the basic principle of this world: “Do the right thing, and you’re all set.”
And Paul says, “No!.” That’s “hollow and deceptive philosophy.” How do we get close to God? Not by following rules. How? By Christ! “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” It’s not about how we get close to God. It’s about how God came close to us. How did God come close to us? In Jesus. God became a human being. How much closer could he get? Jesus came to fill the Jesus-sized hole in our hearts.
So watch out! Watch out for any message that pulls you away from the fullness of Christ.
Dear Jesus, the devil wants to deceive me. He wants to take me captive with his lies. Open my eyes to see how you came for me. You lived for me. You died for me. Help me find fullness in you. Amen.
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