Aug 16, 20213 min read

Reading the Bible Day 323

Hi friends! I know I haven't shared too much about our progress lately but we only have 35 days left in this year long journey. Can you believe it? 323 days ago we first opened our Bible's and read the timeless words "in the beginning..." and now we're here thousands of years later reading about Paul praising God thousands of years after that beginning. The timelessness of God's hope, love, and peace is all I can hope you take with you after we finish this journey in a little over a month.

Today we begin reading the book of Colossians - another short 4 chapter letter. Colossians is very similar to Ephesians but with good reason as they were both written at the same time during one of Paul's prison stays. Colossians was likely penned by Timothy during a visit to Paul. The main themes of Colossians can be found in today's reading and they are not unique either as Paul is addressing bad practices in the church and arguing against what he claims are false teachers. What you'll notice by now, I hope, is that each letter is addressing a different type of practice or poor conduct. In Corithinians he speaks about sexual immorality, in Galatians Paul addresses the place of "The Law" (Torah) in relation to Christians and here Paul is addressing the involvement of pagan practices in the church, specifically, the worship of elemental forces. As a hypothetical example the people might hold church in the water because they believe that God is found in the water. While this might be true, God is not found exclusively in the water, or in the wind, or in any form of nature. God is in all of that because God is in all things. God writes this to address the church and tells them that God is larger than any one element or even this earth, that God is supreme over the universe itself.

I'll let the Bible Project do the talking in the commentary section below but I hope this little intro gives you a glimpse at what to expect.

Scripture to Read

Colossians 1 - 2

Psalm 13

Audio Bible

(Sorry for the moments of weird audio - been working outside all day and thought my mic would be filter out of the cars driving by...I was wrong haha.)

Questions to Consider

What does this teach me about God?
What does this reveal was happening at the time? In other words, what is this being written in response to?
What about this reading, if anything, feels meant for me? What does it call me to do in response?

You know the drill by now, a new book means an overview video from Bible Project. :)

Praying the Hymns

Our prayer for today is inspired by hymn 323 in our hymnal - The Ascension. I'm honestly not sure if this is the same song in our hymnal because I'm working from home and do not have a hymnal in front of me and the usual website I use for hymns is copyrighted (Stupid Methodist publishing house) so I'm sharing a ascension hymn that I think sounds cool. I invite you to join with me in an attitude of prayer as we reflect upon this song together.

A hymn of glory let us sing

New songs throughout the world shall ring

Christ, by a road before untrod

Ascendeth to the throne of God.