Inside – Out

Scripture Read: Colossians   3 1. Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6  Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7  You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11  Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Application

This is an interesting text. Here after listing a lot of the sins we need to rid ourselves from Paul gives us the real method. Take off and put on. But he goes even further and shows how the new self gains it’s power – “which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  This is where I fall into trouble. If the new man is to succeed he must be renewed. The only way for that to happen is if I keep feeding knowledge of my Creator in. This happens through the Word and Communion with Him. Why do I keep trying to change my insides from without? I need to re-examine my habits of word and communion. If I do not keep a steady flow of knowledge about Him, I will never see the new man really live in victory. God help me to meditate on this all day.