Issue 1588 – Many Words – October 30, 2024

I write a lot of words. According to my last report from Grammarly, they have checked 23,685,835 of my words since April 25, 2021. Wow, 23 million words.

That is much higher than the number of words I have actually written, because every time I pull a document up to edit it, all the words are counted again. However, even if it’s out by a factor of five, it’s still nearly 5 million new words in 3 ½ years, or more than a million words a year.

One of the challenges of writing a daily devotional column fresh every morning is simply that … it is fresh every morning. When I sit down in front of the computer, what am I going to write?

The list of potential topics is seemingly endless, yet at the same time, what can I possibly write that would be a blessing to others?

In the initial go round of Gleanings there were about 4500 issues. Some were profound. On the other hand, if I could read them all now, I have no doubt that some would be embarrassingly bad.

I started writing Gleanings to have the daily discipline of writing something every day to improve my writing skills. I never expected the impact it would have.

This time, I restarted Gleanings because we were to be locked down for two weeks due to COVID-19. I was certain I could come up with enough to fill two weeks.

It is a privilege and incredible arrogance to think that I can put my thoughts into someone else’s world and expect that they might be read. Some Gleanings are better than others. Some that I struggle with get great feedback and seem to impact others profoundly. Others seem to me to be interesting, but they just seem to fall flat.

I must trust that God is at work despite my feeble efforts. His Word is where the power resides, not in my efforts.

If you find Gleanings to be helpful, that’s great. If you are reading Gleanings instead of spending your own personal time in the Bible, stop and spend that time in God’s word instead. 

It seems counterintuitive for a writer to say don’t read what I write, but I’m at best a flawed commentator and His Word is entirely trustworthy and Spirit filled.

 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  2 Timothy 3:16-17

Some say that Scripture is simply the work of men. That’s erroneous thinking which cannot explain the life transformational power of the Word. Certainly, God used people to write it, but they were under the divine influence of the Holy Spirit.

No other work has withstood so many efforts to destroy or devalue it. The truth of the work strikes fear and loathing in the hearts of non-believers and speaks life into the hearts of the believer. 

The word was given to us to teach us, to inspire us, to provide us with a revelation of who God is and His plan. It covers a wide variety of literary genres and a vast span of history. It speaks of events that would come and have done so. It speaks of events yet to unfold.

The Scriptures are the best commentary on the Scriptures. The more I know the Word, the more amazed I am at how often the Scripture clearly interprets itself.

I’m far from the first to observe that it is simple enough for a child to understand and profound enough to keep us engaged for eternity.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I have read it cover to cover or the times I have read a given book or passage of Scripture repeatedly. I have read it entirely in at least a half dozen translations and portions in more than two dozen translations. 

Yet, almost every time I sit down to read it, I learn something and am drawn closer to the presence of God. Even on the days when it seems dull or dry and I don’t seem to get anything in particular out of reading the Word, it sustains me.

When I was pastoring “the cowboy church,” I was known for at least two things. The first is what the Edmonton Journal called my “trademark bellow” of “Hallelu Yah, Yee Haw.” The second, and far more important, was my constant admonition to “read the Word, read the Word, read the Word.”

My words might provide a brief insight or a moment of pleasure, but God’s Word will transform your life.

So this morning, let me encourage you with a simple word of instruction … whatever you choose to read, first, “read the Word, read the Word, read the Word.”

Be blessed

Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

Kevin

Gleanings From The Word

Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)

Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.

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