Colossians isn’t a lightweight book that you can pick up and flick through without too much concern. On the contrary it’s packed full of substance that needs to be digested and absorbed slowly like a magnificent 7 course meal. As we work our way through this over the next few days I’d encourage you to slow down and read each passage very carefully. A few verses at a time is sufficient before you move on to give yourself some time to receive what Paul has to impart.

Our first day’s study covers 3 parts, ‘Thanksgiving and Prayer’, ‘The Supremacy of Christ’ and ‘Paul’s Labour for the Church’. They form a great trilogy but please don’t waste the opportunity to receive every ounce of what Paul has to tell you.

The first section has much to teach us about the importance of prayer, verses 9 and 10 alone providing volumes of guidance. We learn about the need for regular and continuous prayer, that we should pray that people will know God’s purposes, that we might have His wisdom and insight, that we might all live to honour Him, that we all continue to grow spiritually becoming more Christ-like, that we should receive inner strength to endure life’s trials and that the joy of knowing God will dominate our thoughts and consciousness in all things. That in itself is enough for today, but…

Then he moves to ‘The Supremacy of Christ’. There are 5 verses devoted to describing the nature of Jesus. We learn that He is over all things and before things and that in Him all things are held together. If you have time today (if you don’t, make time!) Google this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=rVD7BerINHg it’s Louie Giglio’s amazing description of the protein that holds every cell in our bodies together. It recognises everything that Paul considered about the function of Jesus and God our Father in the process of creation and puts into pictorial form the one image that is central to the gospel narrative. And it holds each of us together!

The third passage ‘Paul’s Labour for the Church’ speaks of the lengths Paul went to so that others, including us, would get to hear the gospel of Christ. It speaks of God’s absolute desire for every one of us to know how much He loves us and wants us to be in His Kingdom with Him.

Now I’ve reached the limit of my words for today and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what these paragraphs have to tell.

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Activity: Read the passage again, section by section asking God to reveal Himself to you as you go. Then do it again until He does.