26 September 2005 Devotion for Today "Put Off All Of These" Colossians 3:5-11

26 September 2005  Devotion for Today  “Put Off All Of These”  Colossians 3:5-11

 

⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.^{[b] 7}You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.  Colossians 3:5-11

            One memory I have of growing up in Britain was one of our neighbors whom I assisted lifting up a toilet fixture so that he could replace the wax seal beneath.  Here he was, crawling on his hands and knees with the residue of human waste all around, dressed in a white shirt and a tie.  When he got his hands dirty, he simply wiped them on his shirt and continued working.  It was quite common to see an Englishman do menial tasks dressed like this.  Quite often I would see them cutting their grass, doing yard work (work in the garden) or working on their car with a tie on.  I did not say anything, but marked that image in my mind for the rest of my life.  It is descriptive of the passage that the Apostle Paul gave us in Colossians 3.

            As I look at the list which Paul gives I know two things 1) this list is not meant to be exhaustive and 2) I cannot accuse someone else of something on this list that I myself have not done.  Paul tells us to put it these things to death.  It suprizes me that greed is mentioned in the same sentence with sexual immorality and I ask myself, “Why?”  Those who pride themselves of saying they are not guilty of impurity or lust will likely find themselves guilty of greed.  Many are guilty of either one or the other- sometimes both.  Greed is a selfish desire to want more than one already has.  It may not be for sex, but for money and here Paul draws no distinction about which one is worse.  He even says that greed is idolatry.  He assumes that we used to walk in these ways as non-believers- and he is assuming the best of us, isn’t he?  Then Paul goes on to tell us to rid ourselves of some other behaviors that Christians are more apt to tolerate and wink at such as filthy (or vulgar) language and lies.  My humble opinion asserts that anyone who doesn’t think that profanity and vulgar language is a problem simply does not get out much anymore. It pains me that so many Christians find this behavior so acceptable.  A Christian man whom I greatly respected poured cold water on my illusions when he cursed out of frustration because he could not back his boat trailer into the water the right way.  Another “cussed out” employees at work because he claimed his directives carried more authority and motivation when accompanied by profanity.  When I challenged him on it he said, “Sometimes you just got to do it, or else they won’t take you seriously.”  Again I cannot accuse my brethren of something I haven’t done or at least thought about, but Paul behooves us to live above these kinds of behaviors.   Lies are no better than the use of profanity- being dishonest with our speech in order to hide our irresponsibility.  We don’t do these things any more, says Paul, because we have put on a new self and have taken off the old self.  That new self has been made in the image of God, our creator.  You wouldn’t work on the plumbing or in your septic tank in a three-piece suit, yet so many of us insist on working around the ways of this world with the new man that Christ has put on us.  Paul tells us not to change clothes so that we can indulge in these behaviors.  He simply tells us to keep the rainment of the new man on us and change our behaviors to exemplify Christ who lives within us.

            May we do all we can today by the grace of God to keep our spirit clean and in good order today.  Have a blessed day!

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

 

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