Living by the Book/Living by the Book Workbook Set (88 page)

• Don’t miss the third focus on the benefits of the recipients of the letter. The Colossian church received a number of instructions and promises in this passage—and so do you and I. How many can you find?

• Finally, there’s an important two-letter word in verse 23:
if.
It would have been simple enough for Paul to have omitted this clause. So what do you think was his purpose in adding it?

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

You decide

TIME COMMITMENT:

Also up to you

“Read the Bible acquisitively. That is, read not only to receive it but to retain it; not merely to perceive it but to possess it. Stake a claim on the text. Make it your own property” (p. 128).

F
or this assignment, you have a great degree of freedom to decide what to read and how to study it. Select any passage of Scripture you wish and read it acquisitively. In fact, pretend you’re responsible for reporting on it in a creative way, and outline your presentation below. Here are some ideas for how to make your chosen passage come alive for someone else:

• Create a skit from the passage.

• Describe how to act out the passage (using puppets, mime, traditional drama, or whatever you think will work best).

• Rewrite the text. It might become a children’s story, a news broadcast, a letter to a friend, a reading for a special occasion, etc.

• Investigate the passage like a detective. Check out all cross-references to the people and places mentioned, define any unfamiliar names or terms, etc.

• Design a banner with symbols and/or words to communicate the essence of the teaching in that section of the Bible.

• Anything goes. Come up with your own idea(s) for an effective presentation.

If you wish to follow the pattern of Bible reading we’ve established so far, you might want to select one passage from the Old Testament to read acquisitively, and then a second one from the New Testament. If you’re doing these Bible studies with a partner or group, this is an excellent opportunity for you to work together.

“What difference does it make whether you’ve read every page, and maybe even underlined parts of the text, if in the end you leave your Bible on the shelf and never get into it for yourself? My goal—and I hope yours as well—is to see life-change as a result of your personal interaction with God’s Word” (p 129).

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

Lamentations 3:22–33

TIME COMMITMENT:

45 minutes

“Whenever you come to a book of the Bible ask, Where does this book fit historically? When was it written? When did the events take place? What was happening elsewhere in the world at that time?” (p. 133)

M
any people are fond of citing portions of today’s assigned passage. It speaks of God’s great love and faithfulness, and His compassions that never fail. What a positive and optimistic outlook, right?

We would venture to guess that only a small percentage of people who quote these verses have put them in context. Our assignment today is to take a telescopic approach to this passage. If you step back and examine the passage in its context, you’ll find that it sits right in the middle of the book of Lamentations, a series of funeral dirges.

First read Lamentations 3:22–33—the portion that so many people telescope into. How do these verses make you feel about God?

The book of Lamentations isn’t very long. Read it straight through in order to put the previous verses into their context. As you read these five chapters, make a list of events that are taking place during this time. (If you don’t find war, cannibalism, and worse, you’re not looking hard enough.) You might also want to consult a commentary to get more of a historical perspective on the conflicts described in Lamentations.