Word of the Day
July 28, 2019
Spelling Words
Can you remember the endless hours of homework, writing new spelling words in preparation for the weekly Friday spelling test? Perhaps your teacher told you, as mine did me, “It’s not enough to know how to spell a word. You need to be able to properly use it in a sentence and it’s yours forever!” Somehow, the practice of learning new words has stuck with me, as every day I receive an email from Word Genius which provides the “Word of the Day”. Every day, I receive a new word, replete with its definition, pronunciation, and, yes, examples of its use in a sentence! Every day, I write the new word in my journal and try to use it throughout the day. After all, I want to make the word mine forever!
Word of the Day
The other day, the word of the day was, “esurient”, which originates from the Latin verb, “to eat”, and means, as one of a few definitions, “hungry”. It also can mean “greedy” but let’s not go there. This past week, while on vacation, I have gotten a lot of mileage out of this word “esurient”, as I have tried a few new eateries which offered, savory and sweet crepes, and cinnamon buns with icing and Oreo cookies (which may or may not sound appealing to you but was “out of this world and back again delicious” –trust me!). Here is my sentence: “This week I was esurient for sweets, savory and sweet, and in both circular and triangular shapes.” (see above picture)
God’s Word Every Day
All of this thinking about esurient and hunger led me to reflect upon my hunger for words and in particular, my hunger for the Word of God. It made me realize how feeding on God’s Word, every day, is the true WORD of the day, and it the only WORD that completely satisfies the hunger of my soul. Never do I read the Word of God without finding a passage that speaks directly to that day’s need for myself and/or for the encouragement of a friend who is hurting. God’s Word is like a bountiful feast which provides satisfaction for our esurient hearts and souls.
Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart, …(Jeremiah
15:16)
Jeremiah found God’s Word, and then ate God’s Word—taking it in as food, refreshment, and nourishment for his soul. Then Jeremiah regarded God’s Word as the joy and delight of his heart. What a feast for an esurient soul!
Using God’s Word in a Sentence
However, if we read a few verses further, we find that it was not enough for Jeremiah to find and eat God’s Word, but he also needed to use them in a sentence, so to speak. Jeremiah 15: 19 reads:
Therefore thus says the Lord:
“…If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth…”
How many worthless words do I utter? How often do I proffer advice which isn’t rooted in God’s Word? What a good reminder from Jeremiah, to not only daily eat God’s Word, but to also daily speak what is precious, and not worthless to all the esurient souls I come into contact with in my daily journey. If I can use God’s Word in a sentence, in practice, it’s mine forever!