When a Word is More Than a Word

by | Sep 10, 2012 | Life & Faith | 9 comments

The Pastor has obviously been reading my mail. This morning he continued the sermon series he started last week on the Gospel of John.  We got through exactly 5 verses. 
“We probably won’t finish until Jesus comes back,” he quipped.
Why?

Well, we got stuck on The Word.  The verse that says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” 
That one. He told us the word ‘logos’ in Greek meant “the center of all rational thought.” 
Jesus was the living message, The Word, of Jehovah.

And I loved it.

One of my favorite college courses was Linguistics. I was fascinated with the study of morphemes, analyzing chunks of words to see what they really meant.  When I read my Bible I enjoy digging down to the roots of the original language; those Greeks, Latins and Hebrews really had something going.

This year I’ve been studying and meditating on the word ‘Dwell’.

            cucumber vines–a neverending source of lessons
 
“Dwell–‘to Abide’,
‘to exist in a given place or condition’,
‘to reside or live as an inhabitant,
‘to focus one’s attention.”


It seems no matter where I’m reading these words keep showing up; the other morning was no exception.

Charles Spurgeon was talking about bearing fruit. And I know if I want fruit in my life–not cucumbers or zucchini or grapes–but patience, joy, forbearance, gentleness, I have to abide in Jesus. I have ‘to exist in a given place or condition.’

One of those conditions is being pruned. Why? Because sometimes I can grow out of control and end up in places where I don’t belong.  Like this cucumber vine trailing up the sunflower stalks……..
 
 
Here’s what Spurgeon had to say:
Morning …
<!– References:–>Hosea 14:8  “From Me is thy fruit found.”
 Our fruit comes from God as to wise husbandry.
The gardener’s sharp-edged knife promotes the fruitfulness of the tree,
by thinning the clusters, and by cutting off superfluous shoots.
So is it, Christian, with that pruning which the Lord gives to thee.
“My Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away;
and every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth it,
that it may bring forth more fruit.”
 
Sometimes Jesus has to cut deep in my life to bring fruit. Sometimes I have ‘superfluous shoots,’ stuff I just don’t need.

Sometimes He has to take parts that look perfectly good and get rid of them because I’m getting too far away from Him.


Like these cucumber vines. They were crowding out other plants, strangling my rhubarb and they were too far away from the roots. (And there were WAY too many of them.)


So pruning makes the vine stronger, keeps me closer to the roots. Gets rid of unnecessary growth in the wrong direction. Helps me produce fruit (Cucumbers equal patience, Zucchini is Joy.)

I get that. 

But why is my Father called ‘the husbandman’?
Why is husbandry a vocation that involves farms and gardens?
(or another thought, why is a woman married to a ‘husband.’?)

THAT’S the word I was wondering about.

From the Collins Online English Dictionary–the entry nearly left me breathless:

Word Origin

“fr. Old English, hūsbonda, from Old Norse hūsbōndi, from hūs house + bōndi one who has a household, from bōa to dwell'”

To dwell.  To dwell in me. To make a house in me.

And I’m to dwell in him, live in Him, have my breath and life in Him. 

Jesus is my Husband.  Why of course–I AM the Bride of Christ.

The Father is my husbandman. Caring for my home, the place I live.  My skin.

So much meaning packed into just one word. So much more to find in the Word.

So much more to find out about my husband, Jesus, The Word.

So much more than just words………
~~~~~~~~~
Linking with Laura for Playdates, Michelle for Hear it, Use it and Cheryl for the True Vine Challenge.  More blessed words there.  You should go visit.

9 Comments

  1. Cheryl Smith on 09/15/2012 at

    I totally get this. Everywhere I look, I see abide, dwell, house, rest, and oikos: home, family, temple. I think it's time for a phone call. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Laura Boggess on 09/12/2012 at

    I just love when the Lord does that. Beautiful, Jody. (and I'm all goosebumpy again). I think I'll read this again 🙂

    Reply
  3. Jody Lee Collins on 09/11/2012 at

    Thank you, Shelly, for dropping by. The joy is mine in the sharing. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Alicia on 09/11/2012 at

    Ahh… I was one of those nerdy English majors who LOVED linguistics, too 🙂 And I LOVED your insights today! Thanks for giving my mind a place to dwell!

    Reply
  5. Jody Lee Collins on 09/11/2012 at

    Joanne–we spent 20 years in the Central Valley of California, 8 of those directly across the street from a vineyard.

    It was astonishing to me each year that, after pruning back to the stumps, there would be fruit again each year–and more in abundance. A real miracle.

    One of my favorite things on my wall is a grapevine wreath my girlfriends made me when we moved…a good bye gift.

    so many metaphors in the vineyard. 🙂

    Reply
  7. redemptionsbeauty on 09/10/2012 at

    To make a house in me – love that Jody. Thanks for your insight. And your joy over the revelation is an inspiration.

    Reply
  8. MrsP on 09/10/2012 at

    Jody Lee–
    I wish you could see the vineyard where I work when the pruning happens…all, absolutely all, the little curly branches that grew during the fruiting season get pruned off. The vines look like “T”s. All that remains is the main trunk and two thick stems on either side. Talk about feeling naked. No wonder Christ used that image. He the Vine, indeed.

    Reply
  9. Angel on 09/10/2012 at

    I love your mind, your words, and your insight.. thank you again for this!

    Reply

I'd love to hear your thoughts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: