Words are something that, in "protecting and preserving" and "promoting and profiting" love, we willingly and voluntarily always GIVE.

     Words are intensely relational. They exist solely to relate. They are not an end unto themselves. At the same time, in being "relational", they are also "transactional". In the flow of words between two people, there is always "an exchange". And upon achieving their most noble purpose, there is also, inevitably, a personal transfer of "good will capital" from one soul to the other. There is a "living, breathing, life-sustaining" EXCHANGE of intimacy, togetherness, understanding, knowledge, wisdom, truth, peace and love. Intrinsically, words maintain faultless integrity with the "spirit and life" of the Word, since in itself, the Word is also powerfully relational. And Jesus, (as the Word, and as King, as God, as Lord, as husband, as brother, as friend), is equally and exquisitely relational. In the precise "type and persuasion" of His being relational, Jesus is enduringly and distinctly, and beautifully so, ALWAYS more about what "He GIVES" than what He ever aims to GAIN. And, likewise, THIS is the very "spirit and life" that God has always purposed and intended for "our words" too.

     As the "shepherding Word", He lives and breathes to GIVE us all (universally and individually) "the way, the truth and the life". And in its final aggregation, the sum total of exchanging "the way, the truth and the life" over to us as both spirit and life, in that exchange, the "living and written Word" becomes the precise expression and immaculate accomplishment of both (a) the "sovereignly-ordained pursuit" as well as (b) the "sovereignly-demonstrated display" of the most extravagant love ever. Just as Jesus and the Word are deeply personal gifts from God unto mankind, so too are words themselves a wilful and deliberate gift from God unto man for man. As "a gift", being thus something that is therefore to be given, in keeping with the express "image and likeness" of the Word, then so too are our words themselves to also always be more about "what we GIVE" than ever about "what we GET". And in this same spirit, these "living vessels"are to single-mindedly remain as nothing less than ever only a gift unto others. And as a gift, in much the same way as God gave "the very best of Himself" in His Son Jesus, our words are to likewise become flesh, and to likewise be only of "the very best of ourselves" as well.

     It is often not "the immature or unkind things" that we have perhaps done at times in life that ultimately break our relationships. In fact, it is many times the case that the soothing and healing words of genuine love prove well equipped to rebuild and caress that which has been bruised by folly back to full health and life. In other words, as opposed to "our deeds" proving to be the culprit, it is more often than not "the words" themselves, or the distinct lack thereof, that ultimately break a relationship. The well-known nursery rhyme of "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is a profound misrepresentation and distortion. And of itself, being a massive untruth, leaves one no choice but to firmly conclude that its long-lost origins lie in what can only be the sinister ploy of the "father of all lies" to underhandedly get man to unknowingly sanction and approve the misuse and abuse of words. For he is, after all, the prototype of one who comes with the singular mission to kill, steal and destroy.

     Of the long term effects between the sticks and stones of "our DEEDS", and the wounds of "our WORDS", the hearts of man tend to recline in the "echo of savage words" way longer than in dwelling upon the "misdeeds of human folly". It is very often the scenario that the after-effects of folly have long-since been forgotten, while the tinder of cruel and unkind words continues to glow. For it is pointedly emphasised that "life and death exists in the power of the tongue". By virtue of being relational, this latent power of words for either life or death tells us that it is specifically "the words" themselves, or the stark absence thereof, that ultimately "make or break" the relationship. To not exchange the words that "sow life" is as harmful and fatal as also uttering the words that "sow death". Which is also why God tells us, in 1 Corinthians 14:1, that in the watershed choice between "words as life" or "words as death", we are to always defer to the noble charter of "pursuing love".

     It's when we "pursue love", then, that the words we both utter or write become an intimate assembly of individually nurtured and personally hand-picked bouquets of relational "milk and honey". Each assembly is prepared and packaged for a momentous arrival upon the palate of man's soul as a mouth-watering declaration and announcement. In that sense, we can liken this exchange of verbal bouquets to a meal for two lovers, a meal that, in the truest sense, becomes a genuine exchange. Since each lover subsequently gets to prepare a part of the very same meal, rather than preparing that part for their own personal consumption, they instead, each prepare their part of the meal for the express nourishment and delight of the other's soul and spirit. Instead, then, of sitting across from each other and then feeding oneself from one's own plate, words becomes the exquisite and exemplary demonstration of lovers selflessly taking every morsel from their own plate, and placing every last lovingly-prepared crumb into the mouth of the one sitting expectantly across from us. In that way, we can therefore plainly also see that words are never for ourselves, but are always for the one unto whom we graciously give of our very spirit and life.

     It is in this sense that Jesus said eat of my body. As the living and written Word, He pours Himself out for us as a living sacrifice for our continuous consumption. Being called to imitate Christ, we too, are to pour ourselves out as the bread of understanding and knowledge and wisdom, and as love and truth and light, for all those who sit across the table of life from us. Now we can begin to fully appreciate that words are never an end unto themselves. It also, therefore, serves no purpose to hold onto our words either. We are to be like rivers of living water as opposed to stagnant ponds. Holding onto words betrays their very purpose. Words are the archetypal ambassadors of seedtime and harvest. And in much the same way that God tells us that as long as the earth shall remain, so too will seed time and harvest (Genesis 8;22), we are to never stop offering up our words as the seeds of prayers, of prophecies, of teachings, We are to endlessly pursue the harvest of love. That we may thereby also prove the good and acceptable and perfect will of our Father (Romans 12:2) by not conforming to the pattern of this world. And in so doing, we do this so that our Father who first set the example before us, may both "be known by" as well as "glorified by" His fruit.

     Words are something that, in "protecting and preserving" and "promoting and profiting" love, we willingly and voluntarily always GIVE. It is in this giving and receiving that words are transactional. They are the building blocks we joyfully employ and bequeath to extend the edifice of love over the many lifelong steps of time. In God's perfect design, He allows us to re-live and re-sow that love over and over again by providing for us a way to sustain and incrementally harvest the love of today from the words of yesterday.

     "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink" - John 6:53-55.

     How does one labour for the food that endures unto eternal life? By "believing" in Him! (v. 27, 29). “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever "believes" in me shall never thirst.” (v. 35). "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and "believes" in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (v. 40). “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever "believes" has eternal life.” (v. 47)

And how is it that we come to "believe"? By no other way than by trusting THE WORDS!

- To God be all the glory always, forever and ever. Amen.

- Blessings, Wayne Biehn