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Colossians 3:1-11 – If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
What do you do when you are tempted? How do you cope when you feel the urge to do something you know isn’t right—to gossip, to tell lies, to treat other people badly because you see some advantage in it for you?
Paul tells us we can make a very simple excuse when we run into temptation: “Sorry, I can’t do that, I’m dead today.” Because dead people can’t do anything, right?
Seriously, that is the logic of what Paul’s saying. He tells us that if we belong to Jesus, we share in His death and resurrection. We are not the people we once were. Jesus has given Himself for us, and now everything is different, new. In a very real sense, we are dead—dead to our former lives, dead to the world of temptations around us. We belong somewhere else—with Christ, in heaven. And so now it’s time to let the Holy Spirit show us what it’s like to live that way—not as people of this world, but as people of God’s kingdom.
Now the fact that we are dead cuts two ways. If we are no longer obligated to take an interest in the temptations that come our way, neither do we have the power to do anything good on our own. That’s only going to happen if Jesus is living in us and through us. Because He’s the One who raises us from the dead—in spirit now, and in spirit and body both on the Last Day, when He returns in glory. So we rely on Him.
WE PRAY: Lord, You’ve made me to share in Your death and resurrection. Please live in me now, so that I can live for You, who love me. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions
- What makes being dead such a great excuse for getting out of things?
- What’s a temptation you’d really like to be dead to?
- Take a moment to ask the Lord to help you with it by living through you.
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