“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Colossians 2:8
The word spoil usually refers to the taking of items of physical value, particularly during a time of war. However, in the passage above, it refers to the removal of strongly-held spiritual beliefs through the process of persuasion. In the light of eternity, the most valuable things that we possess are the tenants of our faith. Who we are in this lifetime, where we will spend eternity, and the rewards that we will receive are all wrapped up in what we believe. This verse lists four ways that these sacred truths can be attacked: philosophy, vain deceit, tradition, and the rudiments of the world. Philosophy is a system of thinking. Many of the religions of the world today are simply a man-made system of thinking. They are not based upon God’s Word; they are based upon humans’ ideas of what they think God should be like. Vain deceit describes empty lies. The devil will promise you the world in order to get you to change, but he will never deliver on his promises. Tradition holds many people in its sway, but when tradition contradicts scripture it will lead you astray. The rudiments of the world are the basic principles of this world’s system. For example, the world teaches us to live for ourselves; but the Bible teaches that we should live for others. We must be careful to guard ourselves against these attacks on our closely-held beliefs lest they be stolen away without us ever realizing what happened.
Morning: Isaiah 34-36
Evening: Colossians 2