Words


"...'Don't weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God.' All the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the law. ... 'Go and celebrate ... This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!' ... so the people went away ... to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God's words and understood them." Nehemiah 8:9-12

Words are great. They allow us to transfer the thoughts in our minds into the minds of another person. How amazing is that!? Some may argue this next comment, but here it is anyway. I consider myself a person of few words. I've made the terrible mistake on more than one occasion to ask my wife in mid sentence to, "Please land the plane." Bad idea. I'm learning to enjoy more words as time goes by.  

Nehemiah liked words too. He wrote a whole bunch of them down in a book that is appropriately titled, "Nehemiah." In his book, he told the story about the amazing impact of God's words in the life of the people who hadn't heard or understood them before. The impact was palpable. Weeping in brokenness, Nehemiah called on them instead to celebrate seeing clearly that they were humbled and prepared to follow.

When was the last time you or I were broken and humbled at the words of God? Too often, I think the familiarity with the Bible causes us to be ho-hum about his word. That attitude is both a horrible and a deadly mistake. As a living word, the Holy Spirit can take it and drive it deep into the point of our need. It is "profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness..."

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