Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Colossians 2:17-18

This weekend many of us will attend Church on Sunday, but I know some who may go on Saturday night instead. Does it make a difference?

According to Paul, people who are rigid on their beliefs about certain traditions end up being focused on the wrong things. Regarding the concerns of what or how we eat or drink, Jesus said, “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone”(Matthew 15: 17-20).

Regarding the religious festivals and the Sabbath, Jesus challenged the idea of the day by reminding them that ““the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

It’s not that there isn’t value in food and drink festivals and the Sabbath, but they are only “a shadow of the things to come.”

Paul again reminds us that Christ alone should be our focus and we shouldn’t be distracted by traditions and rituals. Let’s keep Christ central to our worship this weekend.