Friends
Have you ever had to take a memory test? The technician gives you three words to remember and then takes you through a battery of mental exercises before returning fifteen minutes later to query you on those three initial words. Well, today , as we start a new year, I have three words for you to hang onto for later recall: loved, so, and gave. Let’s test your recall on this New Year’s Day morning
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“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3:17 NIV
I am a lover of words. Perhaps you have noticed? I love writing words. I love speaking them. Those of you who know me well know that I am rarely at a loss for words. My husband says that he gets worried about me when I get real quiet! Ha!
Yet, I have a confession to make. As much as I love words, I have a tendency to overuse or misuse a few. Yes, it’s true. I can be charged with several grammar misdemeanors!
Misdemeanor #1: I love the word “love.” I use it with alacrity! I love Christmas. I love the decorations, the music, and most especially, the Christmas lights. I love looking at my tree. I love every single ornament that I pull out of the box each year. Oh, and perhaps most of all, I have always loved snowmen. In fact, I have quite a collection. I even enjoy them so much that I leave them out well into February!
But I am not done with the word “love.” I love my husband, my precious son and his beloved. I love my parents, my friends, my church family. Now, can you see the transgression? I use the same word to describe my affinity for snowmen figurines as I do to articulate my devotion to my spouse. My love for the word “love” is definitely an overuse/misuse grammar crime.
Misdemeanor #2: I have a special bond with the word “so.” I use it all the time! It’s a “go-to” adverb and agetive for me. It may be a one-syllable word in Webster’s dictionary, but when I say it, the syllable count stretches to two or three. Perhaps that’s my Southern origins coming through, but for me, stretching out the word”so” adds such fabulous drama to an average noun or verb. It turns a standard sentence into an enthusiastic statement.
However, in writing my book, I quickly learned that my “so” habit is a major grammar fo-pa. One should never begin a paragraph with that tiny word, and one should not use it twenty times in a single story. Grammar check in Microsoft Word had a field day with my manuscript usage of that simple word, and so did my awesome editor and best friendTami! Grudgingly, I cut out a bunch of “so’s,” but it was painful. I can’t help it, but I just adore that little word’s expressiveness, even if it’s a serious case of overuse and abuse.
Despite my love of words, I am far from perfect in the grammar department. However, there is one author that is, one author whose words are perfect, and powerful, and far-reaching, one author that hits the mark every time. I bet you can guess the author and his work. Yes, God is an author that never fails to bring us a good word. He is in the habit of sending us powerful messages, and perhaps His most dramatic sentence can be found in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV).
Wow! What a beautifully crafted sentence, what an earth-shattering, life-giving message. Hope, joy, love, power, that sentence says it all. It’s a statement to base your life on, to put your trust in, to give you a reason for your hope.
Yet, here’s what struck me recently when I took another look at this drama’filled verse. God used my favorite words: “love” and “so.” “For God so loved the world…” God didn’t just love the world, He so loved us. If I could hear God reading John 3:16, I’m quite sure He, like me, would make that one-syllable “so” stretch to three syllables. Why? Because that’s how much He loves us, more than we could ever speak, write, or comprehend.
How do we know that God’s love for us is real? Because He used a third word, another simple word, but used in this context it is a word packed with power. God selected the word “gave,” and that one word choice changes our world. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son…” God gave us a gift, a gift we don’t deserve and could never earn, a gift that changes everything once and for all. Indeed, there is power in words, and God uses them perfectly.
OK friends, it’s time for that New Year’s memory test. What are your three words to recall? Yep, loved, so, and gave. You passed Part 1 of the test. Now, here’s the second part of this memory challenge. Can you hang onto those words in the coming year? Can you believe the Good News of John 3:16,? Can you believe those words were written for you? Go ahead. Speak them out loud, and believe their promise for your life. Fortified by those life-changing words, I am ready to step into a new year. How about you?
PRAYER
O Good and Gracious Father, thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your Son to save us, to give us the precious gift of life in eternity with You. We are humbled and overwhelmed to consider this priceless gift. Help us to walk into this new year assured of Your love and buoyed by Your hope.
In the Loving Name of Jesus, we sing Your praises,
Amen
New Year’s Blessings,
Anita
-APS 1/1/2024
Faith Beyond Sight 