DAY 2 — Tuesday
Day Two- Tuesday
Read Colossians 2:11-13
"When you came to Christ, you were 'circumcised,' but not by a physical procedure." (2:11)
If you didn't grow up in church, this verse needs one sentence of background, so here it is.
Circumcision was an ancient physical sign that a person belonged to God's people. It was a permanent mark, made in the body, that said: I am in this covenant. And for a long time it was the boundary line between insiders and outsiders.
So when Paul reaches for that word here, he is reaching for the deepest possible symbol of belonging.
And then he says something stunning. You got the real one. Not the version done by human hands. God himself cut away your sinful nature.
Stay with that phrase; not by a physical procedure. Not by anything I did to myself.
Because I have tried the do-it-yourself version. I imagine you have too.
I have made lists. I have deleted apps. I have set alarms and made vows and told a friend to hold me accountable, and for about eleven days I was a different man. Then I wasn't.
There is a kind of change I simply cannot perform on myself. I can prune the branches all day long. I cannot get down to the root.
And Paul says God already went to the root.
Then verse twelve takes it further. "For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life."
That's the picture behind baptism, by the way. Going under the water is a burial. Coming up is a resurrection. It isn't a car wash for sin. It's a funeral and a birthday in the same moment.
But don't miss where the power comes from. Paul says we're raised to new life "because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead."
Read that slowly. The power that got you out of the grave is the same power that got Jesus out of his.
Not a lesser grade of it. Not a starter kit. The same power.
So here's the honest question I've been asking myself. If that's true, why do I keep living like the Christian life is something I have to muscle through?
I think it's because resurrection power doesn't feel like anything most days. It feels like an ordinary Tuesday. It feels like traffic and email and a kid who won't put shoes on.
But feelings make terrible theologians. What is true is true whether the Tuesday cooperates or not.
You were buried. You were raised. God did the surgery you could never have done.
Sit with this: What am I still trying to cut out of my life by sheer willpower? What would it look like to bring the root of it to Jesus instead of the behavior?
Pray: God, I've been trying to operate on myself. Thank you that you already did what I couldn't. Help me live today like a person who has actually been raised.
Read Colossians 2:11-13
"When you came to Christ, you were 'circumcised,' but not by a physical procedure." (2:11)
If you didn't grow up in church, this verse needs one sentence of background, so here it is.
Circumcision was an ancient physical sign that a person belonged to God's people. It was a permanent mark, made in the body, that said: I am in this covenant. And for a long time it was the boundary line between insiders and outsiders.
So when Paul reaches for that word here, he is reaching for the deepest possible symbol of belonging.
And then he says something stunning. You got the real one. Not the version done by human hands. God himself cut away your sinful nature.
Stay with that phrase; not by a physical procedure. Not by anything I did to myself.
Because I have tried the do-it-yourself version. I imagine you have too.
I have made lists. I have deleted apps. I have set alarms and made vows and told a friend to hold me accountable, and for about eleven days I was a different man. Then I wasn't.
There is a kind of change I simply cannot perform on myself. I can prune the branches all day long. I cannot get down to the root.
And Paul says God already went to the root.
Then verse twelve takes it further. "For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life."
That's the picture behind baptism, by the way. Going under the water is a burial. Coming up is a resurrection. It isn't a car wash for sin. It's a funeral and a birthday in the same moment.
But don't miss where the power comes from. Paul says we're raised to new life "because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead."
Read that slowly. The power that got you out of the grave is the same power that got Jesus out of his.
Not a lesser grade of it. Not a starter kit. The same power.
So here's the honest question I've been asking myself. If that's true, why do I keep living like the Christian life is something I have to muscle through?
I think it's because resurrection power doesn't feel like anything most days. It feels like an ordinary Tuesday. It feels like traffic and email and a kid who won't put shoes on.
But feelings make terrible theologians. What is true is true whether the Tuesday cooperates or not.
You were buried. You were raised. God did the surgery you could never have done.
Sit with this: What am I still trying to cut out of my life by sheer willpower? What would it look like to bring the root of it to Jesus instead of the behavior?
Pray: God, I've been trying to operate on myself. Thank you that you already did what I couldn't. Help me live today like a person who has actually been raised.
Posted in Daily Devotional