Monday, June 23, 2008

God's Word...

  • Is living, powerful, sharp, piercing, discerning (Hebrews 4:12)
  • Is what we are to live by (Deut. 8:3)
  • Is in our mouths and in our hearts (Deut. 30:14)
  • Is hidden in our heart (Psa 119:11)
  • Has given us life (Psa 119:50)
  • Is a lamp and a light (Psa 119:105)
  • Is pure (Prov 30:5)
  • Stands forever (Isa 40:8)
  • Is spoken in righteousness (Isa 45:23)
I have been truly humbled this week thinking about the weightiness of God's words and what they mean to me. It started last monday on my way to Disneyland when I saw a billboard that said "R U A Rockaholic?" It got me thinking: 20 years ago, that same company, same ad agency, same billboard, would have read "Do you really like rock music?" or "Are you addicted to rock music?" Have we cheapened words so much that we cannot even write full sentences? I know I am the same way (trying to get better!) "TXT", "IM", "EMAIL" I, for the most part, don't even go back and change my "I's" to upper case, or add the apostrophe when it is needed (with the exception of this blog...sometimes). We try to think of the quickest, easiest, most "opportune" times to give information. We are in the information age. We are overloaded with information but it has all become so cheapened. Admit it, how many of you have had a "heated conversation" over text...email...instant messaging? Do we need so many electronics...so little communication (the old fashioned eye-to-eye, voice tonality, type)? DO U TXT LIKE THIS? R U A TXTER?

I sat there pondering this whole age of communication and this whole age of convenience and couldnt help but think of the Lord and His way of communicating with us. I thought about His choice of words, His true timing, even the timing of His silences. I began to ponder at language and the importance of language, the way a person relishes in, dwells upon, ponders what another says about them, to them, around them. Words are weighty. And like everything else is the world, the enemy is trying to take the weight off. He is trying to get us to think that our communication would be better if it were slimmed down more.

Then as I brought up the idea with a friend, we started talking about the power of language from the beginning. Tower of Babel anyone? (Genesis 11? I think) The enemy used language to get mankind to form together, thinking they could be like God. At that point, the universal language became a catalyst for sin. It became something that tore people away from God. So God gave us all different languages. He scattered us about and let us communicate differently. TO BRING US CLOSER TO HIM. And now, so many thousands of years later, the enemy is now using that to separate us even more. To cheapen the language God gave us to bring us closer to Him and farther from our flesh...and use it to make us non-communicative hermits in our flesh. We have gone from one extreme to another.

But again, think of God's words to us. Hebrews 1:1-3 says that God spoke to us by prophets, angels, and (most importantly) Jesus Christ. His words are all around us. Romans 1 talks of nature speaking us his love for us and singing his praises. Jesus himself says that the rocks would cry out if we did not. But God's words, themselves, are so important. Do we give them enough weight in our lives? Do we allow God to use us to speak His words? I'm still pondering this idea. I'm still in awe at how the Lord has impressed upon my heart the importance of communication: first with Him, second with others.

Proverbs 12:25 says "Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad."

Do your words to others calm anxieties and make them glad?

And Isaiah 50:4 says "The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned."

May our ears be awakened by the same Spirit who dwells in Him that we should hear His Word and speak it. That we wouldn't shy away from, but dwell on, His words.

I pray my nonsense makes sense through the Spirit...

4 comments:

Robin said...

You are a blessing and have a nice way with words. :-)

Justin McDevitt said...

I thought those were great points, and well-worded. For an extension of this same theme, I think that perhaps an even greater tool of Satan is to take the Church's scrutinizing eye off itself and onto the world. Don't you think then that it may even be that the church is complicit by using cliches that have lost their meaning? Just as the translation of the Bible must be updated, so must the language we use in our churches to communicate God's timeless message. Words like "saved", "born-again", "sin", "righteousness": there are hundreds! I'm not saying we shouldn't use these words. I'm just saying it would be tragic if an entire generation passes away separated from God because they couldn't understand what we were trying to say. Does the world we are trying to reach know what these words mean? Do we as the Church even know anymore?

I doubt it. But I think that may be an even bigger issue than texting. Just a thought.

Stacey said...

Just sayin' hi! Love your blog!

Unknown said...

i heart you.
-gar