Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Colossians 1-2
Key Verse
Colossians 1:27 — “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”
Devotional Thought
What would it look like, this Tuesday in late February, to live as though Jesus Christ actually holds first place over everything? That is the question Colossians presses upon us. Paul writes from prison to a church he has never visited, in a town he has never seen, and yet his prayer for them is unceasing. He has heard of their faith from Epaphras, their faithful minister, and he gives thanks for their love toward all the saints and the hope laid up for them in heaven. This is the gospel that came to Colosse and, Paul insists, is bearing fruit “in all the world” — the same gospel that finds us here, in the gray tail-end of winter, longing for evidence that something green can still grow.
Paul’s great concern is not merely that the Colossians would believe, but that they would be “filled with the knowledge of his will,” walking worthy of the Lord, strengthened “unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.” The temptation facing that church was subtle: alluring philosophies, ascetic rules, angel worship, “Touch not; taste not; handle not.” These things had “a shew of wisdom,” but they drew attention away from the Head, from Christ Himself, in whom “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” The Colossians were being tempted to add something to Jesus — extra regulations, extra mediators, extra spiritual credentials. Paul answers with the boldest possible declaration: you are “complete in him.”
Consider what Paul claims for this Christ. He is “the image of the invisible God,” the agent of all creation, the one by whom “all things consist.” He is the head of the body, the church, and in all things He is to “have the preeminence.” And then Paul makes it personal: God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” The handwriting of ordinances that stood against us — every accusation, every record of debt — has been blotted out, taken out of the way, nailed to the cross. Christ “spoiled principalities and powers” and triumphed over them openly. Whatever February brings — short days, old guilt, the whisper that we must do more and try harder to be accepted — the cross has already spoken.
So Paul’s charge is simple and searching: “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith.” Rooted, like a tree that survives the cold because its life is underground. Built up, like a house whose foundation is not its own cleverness. The Christian life is not Christ plus a system of rules; it is Christ, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Him, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Today, let the reader ask whether anything has quietly taken the preeminence that belongs to Him alone.
Reflection
- Is there any “philosophy,” tradition, or extra rule — whether religious or cultural — to which you are subtly looking to complete what Christ has already finished?
- If Christ truly has the preeminence in all things, what would change in how you face this ordinary Tuesday — your work, your worries, your gratitude?
Prayer
Father, we thank You that You have delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of Your dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Root us and build us up in Him, that we might not be moved away from the hope of the gospel by enticing words or the rudiments of this world. Fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that we might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, fruitful in every good work, strengthened with all might unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. In the name of Christ, our Head and our completeness, we pray. Amen.