(The strange red structure is my grain mill. I was trying to multitask. 😉)
Originally written on June 11, 2023
As you may recall, I have been attending Liberty University Online for a year. Through their dual-enrollment program, it is possible to get a 70% discount and graduate from high school with an Associate’s degree. I have chosen to major in Biblical Studies. Because of this, I took a class about how to study the Bible.
As with most of my classes, I was disappointed because most of the work was reading textbooks and not application: that is, actually studying the Bible. Nevertheless, I read in one of the textbooks a description of how to study a book of the Bible. I took some notes on this (which I have since been unable to find!), and set about studying the book of Colossians.
The Process
It started out pretty straightforward. I listened to the book of Colossians in four different translations (NIV, NASB, CSB, and something else…) and read it from my Bible (the ESV). After that, I began reading through the notes in my study Bible. Following that, I started reading the verse references in my study Bible (something I still haven’t finished).
All of this happened more or less, last December. I know that the textbook said to write an outline of Colossians but to tell the truth, I have been avoiding that step. I also made an effort to compare it to Ephesians, which shares some similarities.
Anyway, I have ended up spending most of my Bible reading time memorizing Colossians. That’s right. It was unplanned. At first, I was like, “Oh, memorizing Colossians 1:15-20 ESV sounds cool” because it is the section about Jesus being the “image of the invisible God.” Once I started though, I couldn’t seem to stop!
So far I have (mostly) memorized Colossians 1:15-3:25, which means that I am about halfway there! Now that I have gotten this far (it took six months) I keep thinking: maybe I should just memorize the whole thing!1
At the same time, I already tried to memorize Philippians, but all the pressure I was putting on myself to read the whole book every day resulted in me quitting. Still, even half-finished memorization projects do have benefits. I know Philippians like an encouraging friend. It’s always somewhere in my brain when I need it.
Hopefully, sharing part of my journey in Colossians with you will help me hold on till the finish line, which by God’s grace would be memorizing and understanding the whole book. My ongoing plan is to continue studying Paul’s letter to Colossai until November. Perhaps this struggle of mine will make it so that your “hearts may be encouraged” (Colossians 2:2).
- Oops! I forgot to post this. I did memorize the whole thing! I’m posting another article soon. ↩︎
