"See To It"

Scripture:  Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the elementary spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Observations:
I am studying this verse today to get prepared for another "Godfidence" talk tonight.  It starts by saying "see to it"… not "try to make sure"… not "you ought to try".  It's a command… "make sure!"  Then it goes on to say "that no one takes you captive."  Science and history and philosophy that people use to try to disprove faith can literally hold you captive… they can enslave you… they can keep you from experiencing the freedom of living in Jesus Christ.  As I wrote about in my testimony post a few days ago, I've been held captive by doubt before.  And that is exactly what it felt like… like I was trapped in some sort of snare of darkness that I couldn't get out of as much as I squirmed.  But if you read it, you also know that ended up being exactly what was happening.  The enemy was wrestling for control of me.  But as soon as I stopped trying to fight him myself… as soon as I acknowledged the Lord, he started to rescue me from that captivity.  This imagery just makes so much sense to me.

Next it talks about "hollow and deceptive philosophy."  Do you know what philosophy means?  It literally is translated as "the love or pursuit of knowledge."  That doesn't sound like a bad thing, does it?  But the love or pursuit of anything above the love and pursuit of Jesus is a problem.  Knowledge can become an idol.  And we have to be careful that we don't so idolize knowledge that there is no room for faith.  We have to be careful not to focus so much on rationalizing and defending that we forget that believing is primary.

And then comes the part that about makes my skin crawl now… "human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world."  Pastor Chris warned us about this world… this "kosmos," during the Open House series.  1 John 5:19 says, "We know that we are children of God, and the whole world (kosmos) is under the power of the evil one."  What we're talking about here is the lies that the devil has woven together (and that we've passed down) throughout the history of mankind.  He uses these to keep us captive to darkness.  He is still using these to keep our friends from experiencing life.

He's good.  But Christ is better.  In John 16:33, Jesus tells us, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Application:
I pray that tonight as students share their doubts in small group, that the devil would have NO POWER to use those comments to trap other people.  But instead, my hope is that we would all just be able to focus our eyes on Christ.  We've got to keep him at the center of every one of these conversations.  Some people may need to see the hard evidence that the Bible is true, but when it comes right down to it, the Lord is the one who changes hearts.

So my application of today's verse is just to pray...

Prayer:
Dear God, this morning, I'm just praying protection over my guys and girls that have a strong faith.  I'm praying for Your power to move in the hearts of those who have been captive to doubt.  I'm praying for the leaders to just be so filled with the Holy Spirit that every answer they give is from You.  I'm praying against my own tendency toward idolizing knowledge.  God, I pray that tonight's FpStudents would bring an undeniable move of the Holy Spirit.  Help us all to feel your presence and protection and power.  In Jesus' name!  Amen!

Confident in this…
Miranda