The English language is rich and varied and, I
know it is in a constant state of evolution.
New words are added to the dictionary and old words get tossed out and
other words take on another meaning. I sometimes
think our use of words can be really lazy.
Perhaps that’s what I like about poetry – the use of good words,
I love words. I
love hunting down a word that carries the exact meaning I am looking for and I
will not settle for a convenient word.
It’s the writer in me. I’m not
sure that I am capable of dumbing down the words I use, or willing to do
so. Do I distance myself from my
listener, or my reader, if I use a word they’re not familiar with? Perhaps. I asked
group of young people this week whether, if I called them apathetic, I would be
complimenting then or insulting them.
Some thought about it. They knew
the word “pathetic”, and knew it wasn’t a good word to be called. Did the “a” at the front make it a better
word or a worse one? They plumped for the compliment – though they ought to
have factored in past history and the things I had called them on previous
occasions. Praise was something hard won
and didn’t slip so easily from my lips.
This morning I was reading the end of Numbers ch6.
“The Lord bless
you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the
Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” (Num 6:24-26)
They are words given to Aaron by Moses to bless the
Israelite nation. The heading in that section of the page says “The Priestly
Blessing”.
Having a chequered history of going to a variety of
churches throughout my almost forty years of being a Christian, I have heard
the words spoken lots of times. Although the Bible tells me that I am part of
God’s royal priesthood I can’t think of any time that I have spoken those words
to anyone in that particular order. I
have asked for God to bless people on a number of occasions. I have asked for His grace and His peace to
be poured into people’s lives – but never quite using those words.
Aaron had God’s permission to say that blessing. It wasn’t something to say to make people
feel better – some kind of spiritual placebo.
The words were God’s intention and purpose, His promise. There is a blessing to be experienced and the
assurance that God keeps us in His hand.
He doesn’t let go of the things He treasures – and He treasures His
children. There is grace to underpin our
lives – grace not to be just saved by, but grace to live by. And don’t we all need peace?
The blessing isn’t a three wishes thing. It’s not the words of a spell. It is a
powerful blessing – words that are spoken that have the power to truly
transform the life of the hearer. And because of that they should not be spoken
casually or out of habit. I wonder if
the church minister who ends the church meeting really intends that people be
blessed and know that they are kept. As
he says the words does he, in his heart, call God to keep His word? How different would our faith walk be if
someone spoke those words over us in faith, and we received those words in
faith and lived those words each day accepting them as true and letting them
transform our daily lives?
Father,
Thank you for Your
blessing.
Help me today to
speak those words, in faith, over myself.
May my spirit take hold of these words, in faith, and live in the
expectation that I will be transformed. Tomorrow and the next day help me do the same. I am tired of telling myself something other
than the truth.
Encourage me to speak
those words, in faith, over my friends and family as I pray and give thanks to You as I see their lives transformed.
Amen
Amen
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