16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)
Thoughts: There are secondary religious observances that some keep and some do not. A little bit like the Nazarene vow of not drinking alcohol and not cutting hair. Nehemiah 10:22 and Leviticus speak of these minor holidays- observing a new moon or a religoius festival. Such things are times of rest or Sabbaths (plural here in the Greek). Such secondary things are replaced by the reality of Christ so that rule upon rule; law upon law that weighs us down no longer applies. This also applies to the dietary laws.
However, the surface interpretation that i have heard used of this verse that the Sabbath no longer applies is not what Paul was saying here. He was not somehow saying that one of the Ten Commands of the moral law has suddenly ceased to exist. Such an interpretation is only a recent eisegetical interpretation (reading into the text what we would like to be there). However, the concept of Sabbath has changed. We no longer observe Sabbath on Saturday (as most Jews do). Some would say that the concept of a day of rest, worship, and mercy is kept but the day has changed to the Lord's Day. Paul. himself worshiped on Sunday and preached then- in remembrance of the resurrection.
One of the reasons Christianity is dying in America is we have eliminated a time for worship in order to put work and productivity and busy-ness first. As a result our economy has not sped up- but has not been blessed by God. We do not need to be a slave to work and efficiency- as if having what we want whenever we want it is paramount.
Prayer: Help me to be full of grace and also to keep the moral Law. Keep me from judging others but help me to follow you.
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