My daughter used to enjoy reading the dictionary. She would read aloud the definitions of common words and I was surprised at her enunciation and diction. I was really surprised at how different my definitions of words were from what the dictionary says.
Then she started asking me what certain words mean and I realized I had no idea of the “dictionary definition”. My excuse was “I don’t think like a dictionary, I know how to use the words to communicate.” She seemed…skeptical. The more I tried to explain, the more idiotic I must have sounded to her. She eventually left me alone and went back to reading…to herself.
I left that encounter wondering what God was trying to teach me, and this is what I got out of it. Too often we think we know what the bible says, but our definition or recollection is not really accurate. We think we know how to apply the principles, laws, techniques and practices outlined or illustrated in the word, but do we really?
Sometimes we need to go back to the word and “look up” what it is we are doing. I will give you some examples that I thought of. Repentance is not simply apologizing. Forgiveness has an element of forgetting that goes with it. Grace is unmerited favor, but it can be frustrated and abused. Love is a decision and more than a feeling. Marriage is less about you than you may want to believe. “Lord” implies a 24 hour, 365 day arrangement, with no Holidays or furloughs.
Humility is not a bad thing, and meekness is NOT weakness. Obedience is still better than sacrifice and a good name to be had than riches. Giving is God’s way of blessing you and money is not our source, but a resource.
We think we know what all these things mean, but how we “use them in a sentence” to communicate (through our lives and lifestyles) isn’t what God had in mind.
We are living examples of bible “slang” if you will. Our lives have become commonly accepted depictions of something that may not even closely resemble the original intent. We need to get back to the “dictionary definition” of some of these things so we can teach others the truth and the right way.
Walking in love is not the same as being in love is it? Intercession is different than gossip right? Submission is not a cuss word the last time I checked and it applies to more than just wives towards their own husbands.
The bible is more than a road map and an operating manual. It also is a dictionary, defining what God’s word says and means. Go read your dictionary and where needed apply some spiritual “spell check” to your life.
The bible, God’s word…where we go to find meaning and definition.
Everyday God... 