The Word for today:
Colossians 1:24-2:7
Colossians 1:24-2:7
mark this: Colossians 1:25b, 28b --
I have become your servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--
the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone complete in Christ.
I have become your servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--
the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone complete in Christ.
Today marks the completion of exactly seven years of the "Stand in the Rain" Bible-reading initiative, or program, or crusade, or obsession, or compulsion, or whatever one might call it.
The first blog entry was on July 9th of 2009. We haven't missed a day since. Call it what you will, I call it love.
Our premise from the start was that the Bible is an environment, specifically designed by its Author to make us grow. Our theme verse, Isaiah 55:10-11, says that the Bible, to the soul, is what rain and light are to a garden. So to deprive your soul of the Word of God is tantamount to depriving your garden of water and sunlight. How's them tomatoes looking now?
Happily, perhaps even prophetically, there could be no more appropriate place to land on our anniversary than right here in Colossians 1:25-28:
I have become your servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--
the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone complete in Christ.
I have become your servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--
the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone complete in Christ.
***
Paul presents the word of God in its fullness in order to present everyone complete in Christ. If Isaiah 55:10-11 is our Old Testament theme passage, I hereby proclaim Colossians 1:25b, 28b our New Testament theme passage--because it is our contention, based on Scripture's declaration, that the teaching of the complete Bible will produce a complete (perfected) person. Conversely, the scattershot teaching of a verse here, or maybe a book there, produces a stunted Christian.
And God never intended to raise any spiritual runts.
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