June 12, 2017 SEE TO IT
Colossians 2:2-3, 8: “that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”
One cannot attain wisdom through education or through experience due to the fact that true wisdom is actually hidden, and it is hidden in Christ. This truth is in total opposition to the world system and the “tradition of men.” As believers, we must be alert to the fact that we are daily surrounded by a world that is constantly projecting and proclaiming a false wisdom. The essence of the world system and the “tradition of men” is that of living according to one’s own dictates with self in control. With self in control, we pursue whatever beings pleasure to self. Self likes to get rather than give, self places value on appearance, riches, reputation, brags on being a self-made individual, being the best, and basically says that “if it makes you feel good, do it,”- the list goes on. The trouble is that self can never be satisfied. Proverbs 14:12 is a sobering truth-“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Paul understood that believers could be taken captive by the philosophy of the world and it was his passion to instruct and admonish believers to walk in the ways of the Lord, and not according to the ways of the world. The interesting truth is that the longings in the heart of man can be fulfilled only in Christ, because as this verse tells us, that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” The scriptures and the ways of the Lord are not a prohibition on enjoying life, but rather are the door that leads to life. In John 10:10, Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Let us be quick to recognize the lies of the enemy that would tell us to focus on making ourselves happy, and let us “see to it” that we are not taken captive by the philosophy of the world. Rather, let us “see to it” that we are finding the wisdom and all the wealth and all the assurance that comes from knowing Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:30: “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boast, boast in the Lord.’”
Blessings,
Buddy
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