Whooops.  I was so sick this week, this thing slipped right past me.  I’m feeling better now…so let’s think about our text for this Sunday…shall we?

This week we’ll be starting chapter 3 of Colossians, and reading the first 11 verses.  (Message version)

In the last chapter, Paul talked about taking care not to let other people become religious judges of our spirituality based on religious codes and rules.  But that’s not to say that no changes will be evident in our journey with God.  In fact, as we look at how Paul begins this segment in ch 3, we notice that he’s adamantly challenging us to gain a different perspective on who we are.  Who are we, according to verses 1-4?

Once we remember who we are…Paul then encourages us to specific action.  He wants to challenge us about the way we live…the choices we make, the way we think, the things we do.  

If it’s not a code of conduct or a set of rules that he’s setting forth in v5-9…then what is it?  What is Paul saying about the way we used to live, and the way we should live now, because of Christ?  Why does it matter how we live, if all has been forgiven by Christ’s sacrifice?

We seem to like dividing ourselves into camps…insiders and outsiders.  Paul even addresses that concept in v 10-11.  All the ways in which we try to define ourselves fall short of God’s original inentions…what is the one definition Paul puts on life in v11? 

Putting it all together, our hearts are changed by Christ…which challenges us to accommodate that change of heart by the way we live…yet even the way we live isn’t the means of giving us our identity, it’s just the “way we dress” the real us inside.

What are your thoughts on these verses?