COLOSSIANS 2:21

“‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’”

Boy, I’ve heard these commands in my lifetime. As a child, I was told, “Don’t touch that. It might hurt you” or “Don’t you dare eat any of those cookies until I get home.” There were good reasons for most of these admonitions. My mom’s favorite though, was “Don’t you shoot that bb gun. You might put your eye out.”

This verse is described very well by Albert Barnes. He says, “See Schoetgen, and Pict. Bib. in loc. ‘They allowed themselves no food that was pleasant to the taste, but ate dry, coarse bread, and drank only water. Many of them ate nothing until sunset, and, if anyone touched them who did not belong to their sect, they washed themselves as if they had been most deeply defiled. Perhaps there was at Colossae a society of this kind, as there were in many other places out of Judea; and, if there was, it is not improbable that many Christians imitated them in the uniqueness of their rules and observances;’” 

APPLICATION

This short verse is best read with the previous verse. Go back and read verse 20 and get a “running start” at it. Got it. Okay. There is nothing extraordinary about this verse. It’s pretty straight forward. Paul is telling the Colossian believers to not let anyone put them under man-made laws. Don’t try to live a certain way to please people.

Let me ask you, who are you trying to please? Who should you want to please? Only One! Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul writes this, “All things are permitted for me, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.” In other words, I am free to do whatever, but those “whatever” things may not be to my benefit. Again, over in 1 Corinthians 10:23, he says this, “All things are permitted, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted, but not all things build people up.”

Our lifestyles should never cause others to struggle. We should always point them to Jesus. So, if a brother or sister has a real problem with something, don’t add to their struggle. Help them see how they can simply please the Master. Amen? Amen!

Lord, thank You for setting me free from restrictions imposed by others.