Day 313: Colossians 2:6–15

As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught (vv. 6–7).

Once we accept Christ as Savior, we become joint heirs with Christ (see Rom. 8:17), and God becomes our Father (see John 20:17). Satan may try to kidnap us by enticing us away from the truth, but no matter what he does, he cannot make us his. Let’s discover how to protect ourselves from being lured away by “empty deceit” (Col. 2:8).

1. Remember how you received Christ. None of us entered God’s family through our own effort. We received Christ as a gift of grace. Now Paul tells us that the way we got in is the way we go on. We must not believe any teaching or philosophy that replaces God’s grace with our performance.

2. Continue to live in Christ. The best way for a child of God to avoid being kidnapped is to stay close to home. Children in natural families cannot live their entire lives in their yards, but children in the spiritual family of God can! Continuing to live in Christ means remaining close to Him and retaining a focus on Him. Any other focus can lead to deceptive doctrine, even if the focus is a biblical concept. Remember, any doctrine that loses connection with the Head has been twisted into deception. Many of us have probably let something temporarily become a greater focus than Christ Himself. I’ve seen people make a specific belief or detail of doctrine such a focus. We are less likely to be kidnapped when we stay close to home by staying focused on the Head, Jesus Christ.

3. Grow deep roots in Christ. The more we feel like family, the less likely we’ll be enticed. An important part of feeling like family is knowing your family history and the belief systems handed down through the generations. Spiritually, we have difficulty growing up until we’ve grown down. We form deep roots by knowing the basics of our faith. We can receive Christ and be enthusiastic and still fall into confusion the first time someone confronts us with strange doctrine. Our roots are our basics.

4. Grow up in Christ. In verse 7, the apostle exhorted believers to be “rooted and built up in Him” (hcsb). After we’ve grown roots, we’re ready to grow up. Hebrews 6:1 strongly exhorts believers to a progression in Christ: “Therefore, leaving the elementary message about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity” (hcsb). All of these keep us from being easy targets.