Sunday, August 9, 2009

A Devotion

Sailor Sam reads his Bible daily and spends time each day in study, meditation, and prayer. He thought you might enjoy something he found in his devotional time.
The Bible's New Testament was probably written in the later half of the first century A.D. The Holy Spirit moved men, such as Paul and some of Jesus' disciples, to write the New Testament in the common language of the day, Koine Greek.
Because of that there are differences in the way words are used. A good example of this today is the difference between the English and Eskimo languages. When the weather gets cold around here, we say the white stuff coming down as precipitation is snow. An Eskimo would have to say that a bit differently because, I believe, there are 7 words for snow in Eskimo. Some of those Eskimo words for snow mean things like new-fallen snow, wet snow, icy snow, and more.
In Greek there are three words that we translate as "love". They are philos, eros, and agape. Philos is brotherly love. Philadelphia means the city of brotherly love. Eros means romantic love. And agape means unconditional love, and that is the word the New Testament uses for God's love. That's why God wants us to call Him father, because His love for us is unconditional, total, complete, never-ending, like the love of a father for his child.
Think about God's agape love today and thank Him for it, especially that He would give His only son Jesus do die so that we can live with Him forever.