Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, 

why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules?

Colossians 2:20

Everyone needs rules, right? But what if those rules tend to keep our spirituality bound instead of giving us the gift of freedom in Christ?

The New Testament in the Bible mentions the Pharisees often. According to them, they followed every letter of the law God had given, but they added many other stipulations and regulations to it to suit their own pious purposes. They judged others by their own interpretation of the law and in so doing missed the heart of Jesus’s message.

We still have people today who like to add rules to our lives. We have to dress a certain way, weigh a certain amount, have toenails and fingernails done just right, drive the best car. Satan would like for us to become burdened, defeated, and overwhelmed by it all. 

I am afraid at times I have taken on the attitude of the Pharisees and judged others around me unfairly. That practice does not promote Christ, but the world. 

Great news though, God provides us with his power, salvation, and peace. These are not dependent on worldly rules, but on his grace. He wants us to be unburdened by the world’s view and at rest by his.

This verse in Colossians does away with legalism and worldliness, and gives value to the power of the cross when one believes in it.

God says we died to the world when we accepted him. God says he will guide us on our way – no matter our dress, our weight, our painted or unpainted nails, or which vehicles we drive. We just need to take on the attitude of Christ to get it right. 

Let us rejoice in his salvation. Let us praise him for his promise of death to the world when we trust in him. Let us listen to him more and the world less. As followers of Christ, we belong to him. 

Susan P.