March through Colossians (the HOW)

* Read the post below on the WHY first.

So, what's the plan for how we're going to read through the book of Colossians together? Well, I think that how we choose to read through it should reflect (as best as we can) the nature of this book.

• It is a letter. We want to read it as a letter and not be so focused on the trees (the individual verses) that we miss the forest (the whole letter). Therefore I'll be including a couple of chances for us to read the whole thing in one sitting (don't worry, it's only 4 chapters which will probably take about 10 minutes).
• It has a flow and an argument or point (or arguments/points). We're not just going to read the first 2 verses, then the next 2, then the next 2, woodenly. I've broken down the daily readings based on the flow of thought in Paul's writing.
• It is the Word of God. The very words that Paul wrote on papyrus or parchment were the God-breathed words of God (2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Pet. 1:19-21). Therefore we will be taking our time, reading only a small chunk of verses per day, so that we can take in as much of what God has given us as we can.

The details:

• I'm not sure how to put a nice calendar together on the blog, so I'll just list the readings (see below).
• We'll start on 3/2 by reading the whole book in one sitting that day (again, 10 minutes). We'll do this again on 3/9, 3/16, 3/24, and 3/31.
• Not counting the whole-book readings, we'll cover an average of 3.8 verses per day (min: 2; max: 6).
• There is a reading every day (no breaks), but it's easy to catch up given the shortness of the readings.
• We'll end up reading through Colossians 6 times total.
• I'll post something every day here on the blog, like a teaching point, a key question to ask, an application, something for further reading, a way to encourage someone else with what you are reading, etc.

Here's the schedule:

-3/2: whole book.
-3/3: 1:1-5a.
-3/4: 1:5b-8.
-3/5: 1:9-14.
-3/6: 1:15-20.
-3/7: 1:21-23.
-3/8: 1:24-29.
-3/9: whole book.
-3/10: 2:1-5.
-3/11: 2:6-7.
-3/12: 2:8-12.
-3/13: 2:13-15.
-3/14: 2:16-19.
-3/15: 2:20-23.
-3/16: whole book.
-3/17: 3:1-4.
-3/18: 3:5-8.
-3/19: 3:9-11.
-3/20: 3:12-15.
-3/21: 3:16-17.
-3/22: 3:18-22.
-3/23: 3:23-4:1.
-3/24: whole book.
-3/25: 4:2-4.
-3/26: 4:5-6.
-3/27: 4:7-9.
-3/28: 4:10-11.
-3/29: 4:12-13.
-3/30: 4:14-18.

So, carve out some time to read the whole book in one sitting on March 2nd, and check back here on the blog for a brief post that day and a reminder of the next day's passage.

March through Colossians (the WHY)

* Note: I am doing this primarily for folks at the church where I'm a pastor, but feel free to join in if you'd like.

Many of my ideas come to me while I'm in the shower (what's the deal with that anyway?), and this one is no exception. I'm really excited about this simple idea: I'd like to take the month of March and read through the book of Colossians together. We'll read just a few verses a day, and I'll post something brief each day here on the blog (I'll explain the HOW in another post).

You might ask, Why this idea? And why Colossians? Here are a few reasons:

• As for the idea, I think there are some advantages to having a group of people read through a portion of Scripture at the same time who are in community together (e.g., a cool sense of "we're in this together," the chance to encourage each other in conversation about what we've been learning, allowing the Holy Spirit to work some of these same truths into us at the same time).
• Doing this during the month of March provides some accountability (which none of us are above).
• Doing this during the month of March allows for us to have a clear goal.
• As for doing Colossians, honestly that's just the next book in some New Testament reading I've been doing, and I thought it would be nice to have some fellow readers!

Here's the bottom line reason though. You and I so desperately need to see Jesus Christ for who He actually and objectively is. Not who He is in our subjective and small view of Him, but who He really is. Colossians holds that beautiful picture up for us to see. This book, being the living and active Word of God, can wake us up each day with the good news of who Jesus is, what He has done for us, what He is doing today, and what He will do.

So come revel in the gospel with me during the month of March as we go deep into this book together, and as we let it go deep into us.