DAY 1 — Monday
On Sunday we only had time for part of this chapter.
But Colossians 2 is one of the richest chapters in the whole Bible, and there is a lot in it we never got to. So this week we're going to slow down and walk through the parts we skipped.
Each day takes about seven minutes. Open your Bible if you have one. If you don't, use the app on your phone. And if you've never really read the Bible before, you're not behind... just start Monday with the rest of us.
A word before we begin. Nothing in this week is something you do to make God love you more. That was Sunday's whole point. This is just what it looks like to stay close to someone.
Day One- MONDAY
Read Colossians 2:1-5
"I want you to know how much I have agonized for you..." (2:1)
Paul is writing this from a prison cell.
And the first thing he tells the church at Colossae is that he has been in agony over them. Losing sleep. Wrestling in prayer. For a church he has never once visited, full of people he has never met.
Sit with that for a second. Somebody was praying hard for people he would never shake hands with.
Now here's what I want us to notice. Watch what he actually agonizes for.
He doesn't say, I've been praying you'd try harder. He doesn't say, I've been praying you'd clean up your act.
He prays three things. That they would be encouraged. That they would be knit together in love. And that they would have complete confidence that they understand God's secret plan, which is Jesus himself.
Encouragement. Connection. Assurance.
That's it. That's what the man in the prison cell wanted for them.
And I have to be honest with you; that's not usually what I pray for myself. My prayers are mostly about outcomes and behavior. Fix this. Change that. Help me stop doing this thing again.
Paul goes after something underneath all of that. He wants them to be sure.
Then comes verse three, and it might be my favorite line in the chapter.
"In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Hidden. That word can throw us. It sounds like God is playing keep-away, like the good stuff is locked in a back room and only the really spiritual people get the code.
That's not what Paul means at all.
He means the treasure is hidden in a person. Not in a technique. Not in a method. Not in some deeper teaching you graduate into once you've mastered the beginner material.
And that matters because verse four tells us exactly why he brought it up. "I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments."
Somebody in Colossae was selling depth. Something beyond Jesus. Something for the serious people.
I've fallen for a version of that more times than I want to admit. I have spent seasons of my life quietly assuming that maturity meant finding something past the basics. Something more advanced than Jesus loves me, this I know.
And Paul says no. You don't move past Jesus to find the treasure. He is the treasure. Every bit of it is in him.
Which means the deepest thing available to you today is not a new insight.
It's a closer look at a person you already know.
Sit with this: What have I been chasing that I secretly believe is deeper than Jesus?
Pray: Jesus, I don't want to be impressive. I want to be sure of you. Encourage my heart today. Knit me to your people. And show me the treasure that's been in you the whole time.
But Colossians 2 is one of the richest chapters in the whole Bible, and there is a lot in it we never got to. So this week we're going to slow down and walk through the parts we skipped.
Each day takes about seven minutes. Open your Bible if you have one. If you don't, use the app on your phone. And if you've never really read the Bible before, you're not behind... just start Monday with the rest of us.
A word before we begin. Nothing in this week is something you do to make God love you more. That was Sunday's whole point. This is just what it looks like to stay close to someone.
Day One- MONDAY
Read Colossians 2:1-5
"I want you to know how much I have agonized for you..." (2:1)
Paul is writing this from a prison cell.
And the first thing he tells the church at Colossae is that he has been in agony over them. Losing sleep. Wrestling in prayer. For a church he has never once visited, full of people he has never met.
Sit with that for a second. Somebody was praying hard for people he would never shake hands with.
Now here's what I want us to notice. Watch what he actually agonizes for.
He doesn't say, I've been praying you'd try harder. He doesn't say, I've been praying you'd clean up your act.
He prays three things. That they would be encouraged. That they would be knit together in love. And that they would have complete confidence that they understand God's secret plan, which is Jesus himself.
Encouragement. Connection. Assurance.
That's it. That's what the man in the prison cell wanted for them.
And I have to be honest with you; that's not usually what I pray for myself. My prayers are mostly about outcomes and behavior. Fix this. Change that. Help me stop doing this thing again.
Paul goes after something underneath all of that. He wants them to be sure.
Then comes verse three, and it might be my favorite line in the chapter.
"In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Hidden. That word can throw us. It sounds like God is playing keep-away, like the good stuff is locked in a back room and only the really spiritual people get the code.
That's not what Paul means at all.
He means the treasure is hidden in a person. Not in a technique. Not in a method. Not in some deeper teaching you graduate into once you've mastered the beginner material.
And that matters because verse four tells us exactly why he brought it up. "I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments."
Somebody in Colossae was selling depth. Something beyond Jesus. Something for the serious people.
I've fallen for a version of that more times than I want to admit. I have spent seasons of my life quietly assuming that maturity meant finding something past the basics. Something more advanced than Jesus loves me, this I know.
And Paul says no. You don't move past Jesus to find the treasure. He is the treasure. Every bit of it is in him.
Which means the deepest thing available to you today is not a new insight.
It's a closer look at a person you already know.
Sit with this: What have I been chasing that I secretly believe is deeper than Jesus?
Pray: Jesus, I don't want to be impressive. I want to be sure of you. Encourage my heart today. Knit me to your people. And show me the treasure that's been in you the whole time.
Posted in Daily Devotional