Remember Candid Camera? The show used hidden cameras to film ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, such as a florist delivering flowers C.O.D. Sometimes trick props were involved, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed. When the joke was revealed, victims would be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera.”
In one particular episode, the scene is set with an actor standing on a busy sidewalk. Soon he begins to look down. He walks around a bit and continues to look down. People are passing by him and a few give him strange looks. After a couple minutes, he decides to get down on his hands and knees and begins feeling around with his hands. People begin to slow down and watch what he’s doing. Finally, one person stops and starts looking at the ground. Then another one begins searching the sidewalk. In a few minutes, the camera shows about a dozen people looking down, some even on their hands and knees. At that point, the actor, who got all this started in the first place, quietly gets up and walks away. No one else notices that he has left. They’re so intent in their search that they never even bothered to ask what it was they were looking for.

This is great picture of how many people live in our society today. They’re searching for something because they know there’s got to be more to life. But, they’ll never find it if they don’t know what it is that they’re missing.

As believers in Christ, we have discovered what life is all about. It’s Christ in us, the hope of glory. In Christ, we have purpose and meaning. In Christ we have been endowed with all that we need to live life to the fullest. That’s what we take home with us from Colossians 2.

As we move into Chapter 3, Paul is going to instruct us on how we are to live in light of that reality. At this point we might expect to find a catalog of rules to follow or list of practical things to do. But he doesn’t do that. Instead he says some things to stir up our imagination. It’s really fascinating what Paul says. But I’m not going to tell what it is that’s so fascinating. We’ll talk about that on Sunday. My purpose at this point is merely to stir up your imagination about what Paul said that stirs up our imagination.