Colossians 2:6-15 [16-19] (NRSV)
Read Colossians 2:6-15 [16-19] on biblegateway.com
Verse 6As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, Verse 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Verse 8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. Verse 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, Verse 10and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. Verse 11In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; Verse 12when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
Verse 13And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, Verse 14erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. Verse 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.[
Verse 16Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. Verse 17These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Verse 18Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, Verse 19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.]
Devotion
I grew up praying before our evening meal. Every night we'd sit around our kitchen table, join hands, pause, and pray: "Come Lord Jesus, be our guest; and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen."
When I lived on my own, I'd rarely pray before a meal. I wasn't any less grateful for the food, no less aware of God's presence, no less faithful to God either. But that familiar table prayer no longer centered me the way it used to.
Now, every evening, I find myself with two little (sticky) hands in mine as we sit around our kitchen table praying the same prayer I grew up with. Only, it's not just the food I'm praying for, it's the gifts of my kiddos.
Our faith practices help us notice and live into the fullness of Christ that dwells in us. There is not just one right way to be faithful as long as our practices keep pointing us to him.
Prayer
Here's an alternative table prayer, from Dr. Harry Wendt of Crossways International:
Lord, we thank you for the food before us, the friends beside us, the love between us, and your presence among us. Amen.