Daily Bread 12-11-18
Colossians 2:8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
ref. - Heb 13:9 - Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Mt 15:2 - Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
If we look at the top of the page in our Jewel reference Bible it says "Constancy in Christ Jesus." Paul was trying to teach the Colossians how to remain in the graces of God's good will. In order to do this they needed to refrain from paying attention to the traditions that were being followed and the ideas that the world had of how a man of God should appear and to start rather following the teaching and lead of Jesus Christ. In the eyes of the Pharisee and the "holy" leaders our Savior Jesus and his men were rebels. They were filled with the Spirit of God and they were undeniably doing the works of God, but they were not following the rules. These rules being the ones that were made by man. Today, the disobedient Spirit and the tradition has become, "I don't have to follow the lead of any Church or any Pastor, all I need is to do my own thing. And if it is a "Church" that follows after traditions and man made rules and ideas they are right. If the Pastor goes about seeking the approval and the favor of the people through his own deceit they need to stay away. But if the true Church, which we have found in The Church Of God Of The Firstborn, teaches us to follow after Christ and remains in the Bible Doctrine, then it is not to be avoided it is to be followed. You see, men who do not want to be told the truth but want to make it up as it suits their lifestyles and ways have perverted the gospel to the point of where there is no gospel. But we do have a gospel, and its is a perfect gospel. It was not given by man, but by God through his Son. And if we are going to remain in his favor we must also follow after him. If his word tells us to turn left, and we are worried about something to the point in which we turn right, we are going to stray from the path that Jesus is leading us down. We must cling to the word of God and follow in His(Jesus) ways. We can act, dress, and walk like the world says to make an appearance of a Christian and we will gain the favor of man. But in doing this, if it is not according to the word of God and the gospel that we have been given, we will only receive the reward that man can give us. If we want to receive what God has for us we must remain constant in Jesus. We may not be the exact perfect ones that we were created to be yet, but if we learn and persevere in the gospel of Christ we will improve each day. And this is what God is looking for. For us to draw loser to Christ and to find the real true will that he has set in order for all of us who will follow. Let's remain constant in Christ and watch as he does great things in us!! Have a great day!!!