Tuesday Morning Epistles

Welcome to "Tuesday Mornings," a source of encouragement for Christians everywhere.

 

Have you ever wondered about how Adam and Eve communicated with each other? Frankly, it's not a question that is high on my priority list of questions I want to have answered. Obviously, they were created "grown up." No "Shipwrecked" story here. They weren't abandoned, lost on some remote island as young, innocent children. They were adults. They had vocabulary. God communicated with them, and they communicated with God. Communication implies words were spoken. And heard.

 

Most of us use words grouped into sentences to talk to each other. Even hearing-impaired individuals learn to "sign," using visual "words." When we talk, we verbally reach out to one another to share ideas, instructions, facts, opinions, observations, likes and dislikes. Talking is our way of getting to know each other. Talking is our way of doing business. Today, as we know, talking is only one form of communication. Technology has given us so many "advances" that it takes a very bright person to keep up with the multiple systems of technological communication—e-mails, satellite television, mobile phones, lap-top computers, the internet, i-Phones. When Barry Bonds hit his historic home run this week, tying him with Hank Aaron, tens of thousands of fans in the ballpark had their i-Phones and other cutting-edge visual phones pointed out in the direction of where Bonds was standing at home plate. They followed him all the way around the bases. Live coverage is what it is called. They were communicating with "someone" to whom they were connected via satellite.

 

Our words have intense meaning. They have the power to encourage, discourage, excite, and even bore other people. Our words can heal, and our words can destroy. Many famous words spoken have been preserved in archives around the world. Which American presidents' names come to mind when you think about the power of the spoken word? Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy? Which American clergymen's names come to mind when you think about how words can influence the masses? Moody, King, Graham?

 

What preacher has not voiced the words of David found in Psalm 19:14?

 

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

 

And what teacher or parent hasn't quoted the Apostle Paul from his letter to the Church at Ephesus (4:29)?

 

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

 

This week's topic is "Words and Sentences." Continue reading whenever you are ready to listen to the words of a pilgrim who has not outlived the necessity of harnessing his language and the heart from which his words come.

 

Have an outstanding week.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Encourager

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Words and Sentences

Tom Barnard

 

t doesn’t happen every day or every week or month. But more often than I want to admit, someone asks me, “Tom, what books have you read lately?” I don’t have a good answer. I buy books. I collect books. I put books on my shelves. I even give books away. But I don’t read books. I read words and sentences and paragraphs from books. I read sports sections (one of the best sports sections in America is in the Boston Globe—thank you, Red Sox fans). I read editorial pages. I read the National Geographic (not all the way through, but an article here and there). I like their photography. I read menus. I read the Bible. I read ads (don’t you love great ads?). I read quotes—especially one-liners, which I have collected for years.

 

But I don’t read books. So don’t ask me what’s the best book I have read this year. You won’t like my answer.

 

Some of you do read books. You are serious about it. You read novels. You read magazines. Good for you. You read flyers from the Sunday edition of your paper so you can see who has the best price for this item or that. You read coupons you have clipped from newspapers so you can buy a lot of things you really don’t need but save a ton of money in the process. The only discount coupons I am interested in reading are the ones where I can buy three half-gallons of Blue Bell Ice Cream for $10. That’s worth reading!

 

Why are words and sentences and paragraphs important? They are the building blocks of communication. How do infants learn how to communicate? Words. Not groups of words. Not sentences. Words. One word at a time, repeated often and with varying degrees of emotion, gets our attention as parents. Normal adults don’t talk “baby talk.” But their babies do, and they are loved when they do.

 

What does all of this have to do with today’s topic? Turn with me to the first chapter of the Old Testament.

 

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

 

Key words. Notice that the text does not say, “This is how God created the heavens and the earth.” “How” is not nearly as important as “Who.” These ten words may be the most important ten words in print. They declare who the architect of the universe was. Turn with me to the first chapter of John’s Gospel.

 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

 

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? John declared that when God chose to communicate, he communicated through a person, and the way he chose to communicate was through that person, Jesus, “the Word.”

 

God didn’t need a three-thousand-word document to declare who He was and who his Son was. Twenty-seven words were all the words God needed to answer two of the most important questions ever asked—Who is God, and what does He want me to believe about Him? And there’s more. Drop down to verse 12 of John’s opening chapter:

 

“To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

 

There they are—thirty-nine more words that speak of the destiny of those who respond to God’s call. They become children by adoption into the Family of God through faith in the name of His Son. I can’t think of 39 words with greater meaning. It just doesn’t get any better than this! Believe it! It is the Word of God! It was spoken just for you.