Tuesday 7 September 2021
Today is Tuesday the 7 September, in the 23rd week of Ordinary time.
The Porter’s Gate sing, ‘Wood and Nails’.
Today’s reading is from the letter to the Colossians
Colossians 2:6-15
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
“Continue to live your lives in him, rooted and established in the faith, and abounding in thanksgiving.” What helps you to remain rooted in your faith? Take a moment to consider this.
Paul warns the Christians not to be taken captive by anyone else with ideas that might steer them away from their faith. Perhaps there is something more attractive or interesting in your life than spending time with God? Something that takes you captive... Can you recognise where this might be happening in your life?
Paul also encourages the Christians to remember their beginnings, of forgiveness and baptism, “God made you alive together with him.” he writes. What do the words alive together with him mean for you today?
Listen to the reading again and notice what arises for you…
We hear of the record of our sin that stood against us with its legal demands, of how Christ set this apart by nailing it to the cross. Spend a moment pondering this vivid image.
As you recall this, can you too abound in the thanksgiving of which Paul writes? Spend a while with the Lord as you recall his goodness.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.