A WORLD OF WORDS

Our world is filled with words. They can inform us, persuade us, reflect our feelings and also frighten us. Our words can be subtle or wise, and other times shrieking sounds that make no sense. Unless we live alone in sound proof homes with no media, we simply cannot avoid words.  

But if we have learned anything, especially during this political election year, it must be this: It's not the amount of words, but what's in them that counts. 

This summer I finished DAILY WORD FROM JESUS, a daily devotional book of 370 pages that will be published soon. Using my computer tracker, I discovered I had written over 140,000 words! Wow! That's a lot of writing. I do hope people will find some good in them.

My topic, what Jesus of Nazareth said in the Gospel of St. Matthew, is important enough to write that many words. Matthew's purpose in writing his Gospel was to show that Jesus is the promised Messiah. I hope my 140,000 more words will help explain this as it is read by people on a daily basis. But it's not the amount of words, but what's in them that counts. 

Consider, for example, that the Declaration of Independence contains 1137 words. The United States Bill of Rights contains 463 words. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address contains 266 words. The Ten Commandments contain only 297 words. And John 3:16, one of the most beloved passages in the Bible, a verse that gives a message of eternal importance to all mankind, contains a mere 24 words.

Compare those numbers with the recently amended Federal Regulations setting the price of a head of cabbage. That one regulation contains 26,911 words! If it takes our government nearly 27,000 words to sell a head of cabbage, think how many more words every year they enact into law to regulate how we live. As was said before: It's not the amount of words, but what's in them that counts. 

A favorite Bible passage of mine is, "God's Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105)

Now THERE is a LOT said in just 14 words!