Human Commands and Teachings

The People of God Set Priorities
Living as a Community of Believers
Love Builds Up

Colossians 2:16-23 The Message

^16-17 So don’t put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services, or holy days. All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance is Christ.
^18-19 Don’t tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They’re a lot of hot air, that’s all they are. They’re completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us.
^20-23 So, then, if with Christ you’ve put all that pretentious and infantile religion behind you, why do you let yourselves be bullied by it? “Don’t touch this! Don’t taste that! Don’t go near this!” Do you think things that are here today and gone tomorrow are worth that kind of attention? Such things sound impressive if said in a deep enough voice. They even give the illusion of being pious and humble and ascetic. But they’re just another way of showing off, making yourselves look important.

For Reflection

I am thankful that when I was a child I was blessed with parents who exercised their responsibility to teach me how to live a fruitful life.  My mother and her two sisters raised me to be God fearing, and to be compassionate.  The early training was rules based with a good dose of structure and enforcement. As I grew older the discipline evolved into discussion in the gray area of morality.

As I look back, the one constant was their faith and the value they placed upon living a God-centered life. They would not have named their lives God-centered.  They were not perfect in their practice of their faith.  However, guiding most of their important life choices was a strong confidence in principles of love, compassion and justice which was always more compelling than any culturally derived standards.

There was no illusion of piety in our house.  There was no attempt of elevating one's self at the expense of others.  Were they perfect?  Not by a long shot.  They were dysfunctional in many ways.  They, like all of us, bore the scars of life's cruel turns.

Living a God-centered life is not about rules.  Such devotion to The Way is not trouble free, nor does it guarantee a trouble free existence.  However, living a God-centered life is a life filled with hope and the power to override our dysfunctions.

Pray

that you will have the courage to find hope in times of troubling circumstances.  Pray, confessing your weakness and asking God to strengthen you.  Pray that you will not be influenced by those who criticize you for not following "good Christian practices".  Pray that you will remain true to the only rule that matters, the rule of love.