...adhere to Christ...

“13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God” Colossians 2:13-19.

When the Romans crucified Jesus of Nazareth, they did so under a sign that said He was “King of the Jews”. That’s what they thought they were doing. They didn’t think Jesus was worth taking back to Rome. He hadn’t, after all, led any kind of army, nor did He cause a military revolt. But every crucifixion of a rebel “king”, even a strange one like Jesus, was another symbolic triumph for Rome. It was also a triumph in Jewish eyes, and a triumph for the power of all pagans. Anyone looking at the cross of Jesus with a normal understanding of the first-century world would think: the rulers and religious and civil authorities stripped Him naked and celebrated a public triumph over Him. That’s what they normally did to such people.

But on the cross, Paul declares, God was stripping the armor off the rulers and authorities! Yes, Jesus was holding them up to public contempt! God was celebrating His triumph over the principalities and powers, the very powers that thought it was the other way round.

What Paul is saying is that, when people try to entice you into particular styles of piety and devotion other than devotion to Jesus, you need take no notice. People have always tried to order their way of life over others.

Some have relied on festivals, new moons and sabbaths, Paul says. Well, Paul also says: They’re irrelevant. They are like shadows, and we just need to focus on what matters, not the shadows. We need to focus, of course, on the Messiah Himself, the King. Now that Jesus is here, there isn’t any need for elaborate and complex systems of prayer and meditation, and no need to upset cultures.

Paul is saying this: All you need is Christ, the Messiah, the King. Hold fast to Him and you’ll have all you need. He is the Head of the ‘body’, and we all get our life from the Head. We are nourished and sustained, not by embracing this or that new teaching, but by holding fast to the Head — to the Messiah King, Jesus Christ.

So dear friends, don’t spend your time adhering to philosophies or to AI or to individuals. Jesus Christ is the Head! Adhere to Him, and to Him alone!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Today’s Prayer

Oh Lord, help us learn to deny ourselves,

to take up our cross, and follow You.

We cannot follow You while following the philosophies

and politics and individuals that continue

to push us to hold to the trappings of our life around us.

Oh Lord, your way is not easy, so help us think and act

in accordance with the message of Christ in order to save our lives.

Our life are not our own; it belongs to Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Help us unite our will and choices with those of God,

when we follow him in all our thoughts, words, and behavior.

Oh Lord, continue to help us each day to save our life.

What must we lay down this day in order to take up Your cross

and followYou, the Messiah, Jesus Christ?