After we arrived home, I found a puzzle book that Laura had bought for out-of-town trips. I found a game in her puzzle book called 4 square. We play a game with sidewalk chalk and a ball outside called 4 square but this one was different. It is a square with 4 blocks across, down, and diagonally. Each square has a letter in it. The object of the game is to make words with the letters provided. You have to use letters that are next to each other to make a word. The letters can be touching up, down, or diagonally. I did a 4-square puzzle for my "first" today.
The puzzle said there were 53 common words and 6 uncommon words that could be found. I found close to 50; actually I had about 50 but some of mine were not actually words according to the answer key (made by yankees I do believe). Looking at some of their uncommon words, I'm not too sure about them. I did not get any of the uncommon words. They look to be very uncommon. I did not do this alone. Joel sat with me and helped. He was a good helper in this puzzle and found a good many words. We had fun doing the puzzle together. That's part of what a year of "firsts" is about; including the family in fun and meaningful activities.
It was challenging to rearrange the letters to make words. After we had been at it a while, one of us would suddenly see a word that had been right there in front of us all along but for some reason could not see it. We would wonder why we had not seen it before. There were a lot more possibilities of letter combinations than we first realized. It was a cool exercise for my brain to try to see something new and arrange things in a different way.
Spelling bee people
I find this same truth at work when I read the Bible. I can read a portion of the Bible many times and then one day see something there that I had never seen before. It seems like God slipped it in during the night while I was asleep. Or, I'll hear someone share about a portion of the Bible and they will point out something that I never saw before and I'll wonder how I missed it. God's word is very rich and we always have new truths to discover.
The truths are always complimentary to each other. They help shed light on a another truth or another aspect of God's character. For example, I've read John 15 many times. I saw in there the truth that apart from Jesus I can do nothing and by abiding in Him I can bear fruit. One day I read a book that pointed out the progression in that passage. In verse2, Jesus teaches about no fruit, fruit and more fruit. Then, in verses 5 and 8, He talks about much fruit. I had never really seen the progression there. It was a challenge to me to not only bear fruit, but to bear much fruit.
It is a challenge to read the Bible while depending on the Spirit to show us more and more truth that is there before our eyes. Of course, the greater challenge is to depend on the Spirit to help me obey the truth that I do see. That is my biggest need. I know more than I obey and that's not good. Following Jesus is much more than simple Bible study; it is also Bible obeying.
Seeking to be more obedient in the Christian life,
Barry
3 things I thank God for today
1. Riches of God's word
2. God's truth will stand forever
3. Refrigerators
No comments:
Post a Comment