This morning I am reading from Paul’s letter to the Colossians 2:2-3,6-7,9-10,16-19, 23 NIV:
[2] “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, [3] in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
[6] “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, [7] rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. [9] For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, [10] and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.”
[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. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. [19] They have 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.”
[23] “Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
The idea this morning that resonates with me is that our call is to be “IN” Christ. Paul encourages them to live their lives “in” Him, rooted “in” Him, built up “in” Him. The thing is you can’t be in Himi, and then trying all these external things to gain His favor, or special treatment, as You are already “in” Him, living united with Him. You don’t need special secret knowledge, special rules, or the like, those are the result of trying to earn what You already have, intimate relationship and continual access to the One.
I think at times we can get carried away with worship of an idea of who Christ is, maybe as King, or the ruler and creator of the Universe, or the one whose holiness and magnificence would kill us if it were fully revealed. We think about how someone like that should be worshipped and honored, and we forget that the invitation for all of us is to intimate relationship with God, who invites us into all that He is!
Its almost inconceivable that this invitation could be true, but it is! Christ, became fully man,that He might open the way to the Father once again, and showed us how willing the Father is to have relationship with us! It really is impossible for us to fully understand, but I know all the answers to this are found in relationship with Him, for “in” Him are “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” If we want knowledge, it is found “in” Him!
My prayer today is that I might press “in” to a relationship with Him, for He is inviting me deeper and desires a relationship with me, as ridiculous as that sounds!
Thank you Lord for making the way and issuing the invitation!
Amen!
