Complete Package | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Complete Package | Previous Challenge Entry
By Lauri Gruen
05/01/07
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES

“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” NKJV Col 2:9-10

I took a deep breath as I stood at the head of the cereal aisle in the supermarket. I was on a mission to purchase the most complete cereal to nourish and fortify my body. My eyes were blinded to the sugar-filled, nutritionally devoid temptations from the cereal companies, who clearly did not care about my well-being. Thankfully, I did not have any toddlers in my cart luring me to the products that seemed more like dessert than breakfast. I rehearsed my search: Fiber, Low Carbs, Antioxidants, Fortified, Fiber, Bran, Vitamin C, 1.0 grams of fat per serving, did I forget Fiber?

Somewhere in the middle of the seemingly endless aisle I got the idea of combining multiple cereals together to form a mega-cereal that would meet all my nutritional needs. By the time I exited the aisle, my basket contained 4 different types of high-fortified cereals. As I looked down at my selections, looking forward to the next day’s breakfast, suddenly the Lord reminded me of His Word I read earlier in the day, “You are complete in Me.”

“Amen.”

Of course, I am in agreement with this Word. And certainly when I read the scripture: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power”, I realize Christ is all I need. This powerful truth of Christ’s deity and all-sufficiency enables me - and you - to walk in victory because of the position we have in Him. We are Christ’s, we have been bought by His blood and we call Him Lord. On our way to spending eternity with Him, we dig deep into His word and discover the inheritance we have in Him.

Then somewhere in the middle of that aisle down our journey, we start adding to Christ’s sufficiency and headship over all powers. We start doubting what the word “complete” means and stumble over applying this truth to our lives. We add our good deeds. We add a couple harmless traditions. We contemplate a benign, worldly philosophy that sounds good from a pulpit. We start to trust our own judgment to make decisions. We put God back into our little box because it’s too difficult to believe it’s really that simple.

Gradually, our concept of who God is begins to look like my shopping cart full of multiple cereals. Similar to combining several nutrient-rich cereals together, we add a little of this and a little of that to Jesus.

Who is your Jesus? Have you tried to add to His all-sufficiency, improve upon His perfection by human means? Has Jesus, our all in all become “Jesus and . . .”?

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you, thank you that you chose Your fullness to dwell in Christ. It is enough! Please forgive me for trying to improve upon perfection and therefore minimize Your sovereignty. I ask You, in the mighty name of Your preeminent Son, that you would lead me back to the truth of Your word. You are my all in all, I need nothing but You. Amen.

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY FOR THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE

The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.