Colossians 2:8-23

Be Still: O God of peace, draw us into your stillness. Settle every anxious thought. Grant that as we wait upon you, our souls may be renewed by your grace. Write your wisdom upon our hearts and lead us in the way everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Read: Colossians 2:8-23

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. (v 9–10)

Encounter: In Colossians 2:8–23, Paul warns believers not to be taken captive by deceptive philosophies and human traditions that pull them away from Christ. These teachings may look wise, but they lack real power. Through the Cross, Jesus disarmed spiritual powers, cancelled our debt, and triumphed over every force that once claimed authority over us. 

Paul also addresses the pressure some believers felt to follow strict religious rules, regulations about food, festivals and rituals. Though these practices had symbolic value, they were only shadows pointing to Christ. Fulfilment is found in him alone. External rules can restrain behaviour for a moment, but they cannot transform the heart. Only Christ, the true source of life can do that.

This passage calls us to encounter Jesus not as an addition to our lives but as the centre and fullness of them. He is not a shadow or symbol. He is the reality.

Apply: Paul’s warning is timeless. Today, we may not face the same rituals, but we are surrounded by ideas that subtly draw us away from Christ. Self-reliance, performance-driven spirituality, moralism or philosophies promising fullness apart from God. These influences can sound reasonable, even helpful yet they slowly shift our hope from Christ to ourselves. Where might your confidence have drifted toward human wisdom, routines, or self-effort?

Paul’s reminder is you are already complete in Christ. You don’t earn spiritual fullness. You receive it through him: 

When you feel pressured to prove yourself, Christ says, ‘I have cancelled the debt.’ When old patterns accuse you, Christ says, ‘I have disarmed the powers.’ 

When rules tempt you to measure your worth, Christ says, ‘You belong to Me.’

Our call is not to add more burdens but to abide more deeply in him. What would it look like today to rest in Christ’s finished work instead of striving in your own?

Devote: Jesus my fullness and my freedom, guard my heart from anything that pulls me away from you. Expose the false wisdom I’ve trusted and remind me that in you I am complete. Help me live from your victory and not from my own effort. Let my life be rooted in your grace.