40 Day Challenge

Most people love a good challenge.  That is why sports and games are so popular.  We want to see if we are better than all the rest.  For others, competition is not high on their priority list.  This week I want to give you 40 day challenge that I have personally done several times over the years.  You won’t get a congratulations or a trophy after it is all over.  Most people won’t even know you took the challenge or how well you did during the challenge.  However, I promise that if you set your mind to do it, that in 40 days you won’t be the same person before you started it.

The 40 day challenge is to set aside fifteen minutes every day and read Colossians 3:1-17.  Do this with a friend, with your family, or by yourself.  After reading the verses pick a phrase, a verse, or a few words that stick out to you that day.  Talk out loud about why those words are speaking differently or louder to you.  After that, spend time in prayer asking God for His guidance and blessings through that phrase that spoke to you.

I find that most people don’t read the Bible enough these days, and many that do only do it to accomplish a task.  This challenge is not to accomplish a task.  This challenge is to provide impact into our daily lives.  This challenge is to help families actually have a common theme in their lives to grow closer to God and closer to each other.  This challenge is to show that God’s Word is useful for our lives today.

We are so busy these days that if we are not careful we end up leaving God out of our lives.  Jesus loves you so much.  Your real purpose in life is found through Him.  So many of us have allowed our devices (TV, social media, phones) to get in the way of hearing Him.  When devices become our vices; we miss out on the blessings of God’s Word.  He wants to speak to you today.  

Take a moment to audibly accept the 40 Day Colossians 3:1-17 Challenge.  Ask God to use this time every day to impact your relationship with Him and in turn impact your relationships with your family and your friends.  Colossians 3:16a (NLT) reads, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.”  The message (words) of Christ are found in the Bible.  

May we accept this challenge.  May we pray to Him every day asking Him to saturate our hearts and fill our minds with His will and His way.  May you, as Colossians 3:15a (NLT) reads, “Let (set free) the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.”  This 40 Day Challenge can change a lot; if you would accept it and allow the “message about Christ” to “fill your lives.”

In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer,
Chad