Paul's Famous Run-On's: Colossians 1:3-12

I have recently made a thought-out decision to change where I participate in Women's Ministry from Titus 2sdays to a Tuesday night women's Bible study. T2sday meets every other week and offers great fellowship with other women, practical advice, and a devotional. The Bible Study By Myself study meets every Tuesday and provides the same fellowship with women but also a deeper amount of intellectual and spiritual involvement from me (and Judah can stay at home instead of go to nursery...and I don't have to find a ride home). Not to mention, the subject -- studying the Bible by yourself -- is one I have had great interest in. Several ladies commented to me last week that I should have everything down and have much to offer because of the teaching I received at Master's. To that I said, "Ah yes, but that was from men with Ph.D.'s. This is from a woman!" meaning that I will take it to heart much more because I can relate to who is teaching it.

That said, this past week I have fast forwarded through the first three weeks of the study in order to get caught up to where the other women are since I came in at week 3. It has been so exciting to see a new, simple, but profound method of Bible study! Here is a sample of one thing Norma (who also happens to be my prayer partner for this year) taught from week 2. Paul is known for his run-on sentences that can be quite hard to decipher. But one of the asignments was "Divide and conquer!". Norma had us take Colossians 1:3-12 and rewrite it into smaller sentences to capture the meaning of the orginal. She encouraged us to try to use the original words as much as possible but to add some connecting words to provide cohesion. Here is the original run-on...

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

And here is how I rewrote it. Isn't it amazing how much is unlocked when you put time and thought into just a few verses! If you wonder about something, spend time with it to see how you can understand it!

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints. You have this love because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth – the gospel. Just as the gospel has come to you, it has come to the world also and has been constantly bearing fruit and increasing in you all since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth. You learned of the gospel from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf. He also informed us of your love in the Spirit. Since the day we heard of your love, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. We pray that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord: pleasing Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, so that you may attain all steadfastness and patience. We joyously give thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints of Light.