1756) For as long as I can remember, I have always been sensitive to words. I am drawn to things people say and wonder what they mean. I’ve sat in hundreds of church services and found it intriguing when the minister referred to a word in the Bible and its original language.

As a Bible and language arts teacher and writer, understanding the word origin of terms has given me, my students and readers insight beyond the mere definition of a word.

 Thinking of these things, as I read Hebrews 11:3, I see the word of God creating the universe. This word in the Greek is rhema which means the spoken word. There is no action of the speaker beyond the utterance of the word. Say the words and it happens.

There are so many examples in the Bible where God or Jesus speaks and, immediately, something happens. In Mark 4:39, Jesus calms the storm with his words. In John 11, Jesus speaks and the dead rise.

It would be an interesting study of all the places in the Bible where God speaks and things happen.

My takeaway is this: when God speaks, his words become a living thing. It’s like an invisible lightning bolt, setting things in motion.

You can predict present and future actions based upon someone’s history. Study your Bible to see what kind of reputation God’s words have. This strengthens our faith.

Words.