The Same Tired Pathways - Colossians - Part 51

Have you ever felt that you have 'trodden this territory before' and not just once but many times? I have gone over this book several times the last few weeks and as I approach the passage I thought, 'Haven't you written about this before? Should you just move on to something else?'

I think that is a common theme in life. I for one get tired of rehashed ideas. I get weary of walking the same walk from my car to work in the morning. I get tired of chicken cooked the same 10 ways.

But, The Bible is different because it is a living book. Yes, I may have read the passage before and studied it thoroughly but that doesn't mean I know it. We can take the same keys and unlock the same door in the same worn keyhole and come away surprisingly refreshed.

" 'Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch' (referring to things that all perish as they are used) - according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." - Colossians 2:21 - 3:4 ESV

There are several unique words here in verse 22 there is 'used' and verse 23 has 'self-made religion' (translated will worship in the KJV), 'severe treatment'and 'indulgence' all very interesting words.

We seek above thing in what may be the mundane routines of life. The world, the flesh and the devil (the accuser) are our constant adversaries. They don't change but the do fade into the background unrecognized if familiarity sets in. We set our minds on Jesus who sits on the right hand (the place of approval and honor) and we are seated there with Him.

It makes me want to knock on the doors I knocked on a few years ago. Part of me says, 'Why go back? That is the past. Move forward or you will stagnate and die.' No. Evangelism is different. It is fresh and alive and the people behind those doors may have changed or they may be the same but more ready to hear the Gospel because of what the routine of life has done to them.

Joseph woke up in prison every morning for years and years. He ate the same food and saw the same faces. He was the son that his father loved and his brothers hated. He should of had a good life but the middle of his life was spent in prison. He was a young adult when he got there and a middle-aged man when he was finally promoted and made second in command of all of Eygpt.

How he spent those mundane years made all the difference.

Let's usher freshness in by looking at God. We rehearse we don't rehash. We return and preserve the old landmarks. We live in newness with God.

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Seeing It Again And Again

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Matthew 28:19-20 ESV

This is a great commission verse but the phrase that caught my eye this morning was 'teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you'. He does not tell them to mimic the things 'commanded'. He tells them to teach observation. The word for commanded is Entello (Strong's G1781) which is the word Telos (G5056) with the prefix En (G1722) added to the beginning. Telos is our great 'finished work' word. Telos is the end or result of something. It denotes completion or being brought to completion.

They were to make disciples, baptize them and be a spectacle in front of them of what God has done and will do in their lives.

"Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you... Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained." - Philippians 3:1, 12-16 ESV

This repetition is good for us. We need to hear and see over and over again. Not the same dry things spoken again and again but a 29 year old man winning souls who turns into a 39 year old man who wins souls. A 34 year old woman who loves people and turns into a 44 years old woman (with 29 written on her birthday cake) who loves people. God wants them to see a person who God has not abandoned who has eternal perspective stored in a clay jar that is very human.

People don't need to see perfection in us. They need to see perfect grace presented to them over and over again. That is what transforms.

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