A Walk in the Word

"the whole counsel of God"

Acts 20:27

I went on a bit of a nature walk recently.  I had gone on a women's retreat, which I do every year, and I have a tradition of bringing my wonderful kids something from nature.  For Amazing Boy, I find an interesting rock or stick {no, really ~ there's some interesting sticks out there!} and for my Awesome Girl I pick a flower and press it in my Bible.  Then, when I get home, she adds it to her collection of pressed flowers.

So I took a walk to look at flowers, taking pictures as I did.  Unfortunately, I used the old camera, which does not take high quality pics, so they didn't turn out great.  So in the interest of full disclosure, I'm using a couple of my photos, but I'm also using photos my sweet girl has taken.  She's an amazing photographer and she loves to take pictures of flowers.

I walked down the path, seeing flowers, taking their picture, and wondering if they were the choice to press, and bring back to her.  But every time I finished taking a picture, I would see another flower nearby, and I would wander over to that one.  Then I would catch a glimpse of yet another one, farther one, and I would move to that one.  But then ~ ooh look!  I'd find my attention caught by that one over there!

As I happily wandered down this path of discovery, I thought of two things.  First, I thought of my dictionary.  I love my dictionary.  I love words, and I love knowing their meanings and origins.  So it's hard for me to look up a word without getting lost in the dictionary, reading about other words that distract me, on the way to my target word.   Sometimes I even forget what word I was looking for to begin with.   Sad, but true...

And of course, I thought of my Bible.  I frequently get lost in Scripture.  There are so many verses that make me think of other verses.  Verses that seem to have nothing to do with each other, or at least, they are nowhere near each other, but they go together, echoing the same message, or one verse adding information to another.

For instance, Joshua chapter 4.  A wonderful chapter about the Israelites crossing over the Jordan into the Promised Land.  God enabled them to cross over on dry land, and then instructed them to build a memorial of stones as a reminder of God's faithfulness to them.  Verse 19 says they gathered those stones on the tenth day of the first month.  This verse then, connects with Exodus 12:3, which says that the tenth day of the first month is when the celebration of Passover was instituted.  I love the "coincidence" that their celebration of crossing over is the same day as their celebration of passing over.

Or, take Romans 8:28.  A verse well-loved by many.  "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose."  I love that verse together with Genesis 50:20.  This is the verse that summarizes Joseph's odyssey.  After being sold by his brothers, serving Potiphar faithfully, but ending up in prison anyway, then being released from prison and rising to the position of second-most powerful man in Egypt, Joseph tells his brothers:  "What you meant for evil, God meant for good."  I love how beautifully both of these verses say the same thing.  And they are both a promise for us.

Go for a walk in Scripture.  Let your mind wander as you read.  Let Him remind you of His Word while you're learning from His Word.  Bring together what you learned last week with what you're learning this week.  See how, though it was written at different times, by different men, it was all written by one God.  And how, though it is separated by chapter and verse and book, there is beautiful continuity in Him.  Let Him lead, and see where the path takes you!

~ "Every word of God is pure" ~

Proverbs 30:5