One of the things that Paul does in this section of Scripture is clarify some things about Jesus. Keep in mind that when I say “clarify”, I don’t mean “to make completely understandable”. In fact, some of the things that Paul claims here about Jesus are beyond our comprehension. However, he does state some things pretty clearly here, with little room for confusion on what he means.

I went to dinner last night with a friend and when my son and I arrived, there was a momma moose and two calves in the front yard! As we went inside and waited for dinner, we watched out the front window as the moose munched on a bush. The two calves walked to the middle of the yard and laid down, at which point my son noticed that they were still chewing, and chewing, and chewing, and chewing… My friend explained to my son that moose were like cattle, and had 4 chambers in their stomachs. It takes time to fully digest the food they eat, and there is a word for what they do: ruminate.

As weird as this sounds, when we study our Bibles, we are chewing on God’s words. In the same way that each of the chambers in a moose’s stomach is devoted to a different part of digestion, we are practicing different parts of digesting God’s word in the four steps of study.

Take some time today to “ruminate” on God’s word as you digest what Paul has to say to the church in Colossae.

Today we start our time of reading through Colossians. Remember to reread the text for every step of study, looking at it from a different perspective each time.

Ephesians 5: 15-21

Observations:
v15 What does circumspectly mean? In a careful and prudent way; discreetly
v17 being unwise and knowing the will of God are presented as opposites
v18 Similarly, being drunk with wine and filled with Spirit are contrasted. Interesting that being drunk makes you more confident and bold and being filled with the Spirit should do the same thing but in a different way; we should be confident and bold in sharing our faith
v21 we are called to submit to others in the fear of God. What does fearing God have to do with that?

Interpretation:
We are to be wise and discerning with our actions. Being filled with the Spirit should produce something in us that shows on the outside.

Concentration:
God wants us to understand His will, which means that the way to understand it has been given to us through the Scriptures. He isn’t trying to hide what He wants from us; He has plainly told us, we just need to search the Scriptures to find it.

Application:
This week, I want to be more aware of being filled with the Spirit. I want it to show to the people around me, but how do I do that? I need to be wise in my decisions, and bold in sharing what I believe.