In the beginning was the Word….. (Jn 1:1)
I love words. I can waste hours trying to complete a crossword puzzle, or win at online Scrabble, or even discover how a word was first developed. A simple example: ‘theology’ can sound like a forbidding subject, accessible only to the highly educated and exceptionally spiritually. Not so. ‘Theology’ comes from two Greek words, Theos (God) and Logos (word), so it simply means ‘talk about God’ – and we can all do that.
Some people, of course, get quite upset about words or punctuation used wrongly, and write letters to the Times. And did you hear about the ‘phantom apostrophiser’ who went into town at night with a pot of paint and corrected all the wrong uses of apostrophes on signboards?
Words are important, because it is mainly through words that we communicate and relate to other people. It’s with words that we reveal what we are thinking. When God created everything He did it by speaking words (‘Let there be light’ etc). And when He wanted to send the Ultimate Revelation of Himself, He made His Word become flesh, taking on human form.
But words on their own are not enough. In Jesus’ story about the two builders (in Luke 6), the man whose house turns out to be strong enough to survive the storm is the man who ‘hears my words and puts them into practice’. Words communicate; but they must be followed by action.
What has God said to me today? And what am I doing about it?
