{"id":3558,"date":"2011-11-27T00:26:28","date_gmt":"2011-11-27T06:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/?p=3558"},"modified":"2011-11-20T06:44:20","modified_gmt":"2011-11-20T12:44:20","slug":"a-new-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/?p=3558","title":{"rendered":"A New Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. \u00a0Obey his commands, listen to his voice and cling to Him”\u00a0 (Deuteronomy 13:4 NLT).<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve been a word sleuth. \u00a0I’ve spent time in my Bible and time on the Merriam-Webster website. \u00a0What I read in the Word stopped me in my tracks. \u00a0What I discovered in the dictionary concreted His command in my heart and head.<\/p>\n

I understood the word serve.<\/em> \u00a0It’s the doing part<\/em> required of His kids\u2014the acts, deeds, hands-on moments in the field.<\/p>\n

I understand the word obey<\/em>. I don’t always carry it out, but I do understand it. \u00a0It’s also the doing part<\/em> of being His…the doing it when He asks\u2014no sooner, no later.<\/p>\n

I understood listening<\/em>.\u00a0 That’s another word on which I have a competent grasp, but not a working knowledge of\u2014on any level whatsoever. But I’m working on it.<\/p>\n

Cling?<\/em> \u00a0I know what it is to cling to God during a storm. \u00a0I’ve experienced clinging to God when the boat’s about to capsize. \u00a0I thought I understood clinging\u2014I do it whenever times are tough and my efforts are limited. \u00a0But Merriam-Webster has opened my eyes to the depth of its meaning. \u00a0May I share?<\/p>\n

cling: <\/strong>–a)<\/em> to have a strong emotional attachment to or dependence (he clung<\/em> to his friends for support) b)<\/em> to remain or linger as if resisting complete dissipation or dispersal (the odor clung<\/em> to the room for several hours).
\n<\/em>
\nThe second part of the definition is what I want my life to imitate. \u00a0I want to resist being spread out too thinly in the world. \u00a0I want to linger in His presence as long as I possibly can before the excitement, enthusiasm and zeal fades or is erased by outside influences. \u00a0I hope to be so completely full of Christ that no part of myself remains at all. \u00a0I want to refuse infection by the world, by my desires, by what I believe is best, easy or makes me look good.<\/p>\n

Serve. \u00a0Obey. \u00a0Listen. \u00a0Cling. \u00a0\u00a0Hmmm.<\/p>\n

Malinda Edgell
\nIllinois<\/p>\n

PRAY TOGETHER:<\/strong> Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Pray that believers will truly anticipate Christ’s coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. \u00a0Obey his commands, listen to his voice and cling to Him”\u00a0 (Deuteronomy 13:4 NLT). I’ve been a word sleuth. \u00a0I’ve spent time in my Bible and time on the Merriam-Webster … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-devotional"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3558"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3561,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3558\/revisions\/3561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnac.org\/twg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}