I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Colossians 1-4.

    Paul starts off by declaring that the Good News changes lives. Each and every one of should think about and remember the ways in which our faith in Jesus has changed our lives from what they were. Once more I am challenged by Paul’s writing about how he has not stopped praying for the believers to whom he is writing. I do not pray as much as I should, nor about the things which I should. In addition to giving us an outline of the things we should pray for our fellow believers, Paul’s outline here provides us with a guide for our lives. Let us choose our actions so that they always honor and please God and bear fruit in all sorts of good works.

    Sometimes it can be difficult to reconcile Paul’s writings about not following human rules and rituals and his writings about the behaviors we should avoid. The hard part is in understanding how we distinguish between human rules and rituals and commands from God. However, if you read the beginning of chapter 3 and then come back to read the end of chapter 2 there is an insight to be found (or at least I found one). In the beginning of chapter 3 Paul tells us to put to death our sinful nature. He then gives us three categories of sin to get out of our lives. The first is sexual immorality and related sins. The second is greed. It is worth noting that almost every time (if not every time) Paul mentions sexual immorality he mentions greed. The final category consists of sins of attitude (anger, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language).
    When I then go back and read the end of chapter 2, I realize that the rules and rituals Paul is referring to are the ones that people use to excuse the sins he told us to avoid in chapter 3. “Oh, it’s OK that I defraud people as part of my week day business because I take Communion every Sunday.” Umm, no. “It’s OK that I use foul language because I go to Church every Sunday.” Umm, still no. We have been given a new nature, a new life. We are called to live differently. Whatever we do or say should be done as a representative of Jesus Christ. The question is not, “What would Jesus do?” although that is not a bad question to ask.