• Dene's Blog
  • About Dene
  • Contact Dene
  • Dene's Recipes
  • Dene's Books
  • Dene's Classbooks
  • Gallery
  • Recommended Sites
  • FAQ & Tutorial
  Flight Paths

Finding the Theme

7/27/2020

0 Comments

 
As I was proofreading my latest book, I realized that I had used the same phrase at least four times, the one about kissing the tops of my children's and grandchildren's heads over and over whenever they sat in my lap.  When I read through something, I look for what I call "speed bumps" in my writing—things that make me stop for a second and say, "Huh?"  Sometimes it's a non sequitur, sometimes it's a dangling modifier, sometimes it's a pronoun with no antecedent, or several other things, including a word repeated in close proximity to itself.  My first inclination was to go back and delete a few of those repeated phrases.  Then I realized that those references were all in separate essays.  They only made speed bumps because I was reading them back to back to back.  As it was, they made for thematic unity.  I love my children and grandchildren more than life itself, and now everyone knows it!
            The Holy Spirit did the same thing when He inspired men to write the Bible.  I first really noticed it when I was studying the Psalms.  I had found lists of the various types of psalms and what each contained.  In the process of looking for those elements in each psalm, I was encountering repeated words and phrases, or their synonyms.  In Psalm 13 David asks the question, "How long?" four times in 6 verses making it obvious that he was in distress and this was a Psalm of Lament.  In Psalm 51, he speaks of sin and its synonyms 12 times and asks for forgiveness using nine variations of that word.  Yes, this is one of the psalms he wrote after his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah.  There is no question what the psalm is about whether you know that fact or not.
            We are studying Deuteronomy together during our exiled worship services.  We study separately all week, and then on Sunday morning after breakfast we sit down together to sing, pray, and take the Lord's Supper as "the Lord's church on the Ward property."  Then we spend a good hour or more sharing what we have discovered in our personal study.  While it isn't something Keith usually does, because of my Psalms study, I have found things to count, and they have made me aware of some things about Deuteronomy I never knew before.  It is a great book!
            Let me share just one little thing I have discovered in all my counting.  I heard it said all my life that the New Covenant is heart religion while the Old is nothing but following the rules.  I discovered long ago that this was not the truth.  Let me just lay this on you quickly this morning.  If you have your own concordance, either a hard copy or online, you can look for yourself.  The book of Deuteronomy says "Be careful to do" all the commands of the Law 21 times, not counting about half a dozen synonyms.  But it also uses the word "heart," as in "obey with all your heart," "turn to the Lord with all your heart," and of course, the one that became known as part of the Shema, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart," 25 times!  That doesn't count the references to having an evil or stubborn heart, the opposite of the heart God wanted, which proves in itself that God has always wanted heart religion.
            So if you have that incorrect notion of the Law, start studying on your own today, not just Deuteronomy, but the whole Old Testament, and you will see the error quickly.  And use this little tip whenever you study—when God uses the same word again and again, you might just be looking at a theme you need to pay attention to.  It might be something you have missed for years.
 
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  (Deut 10:12).
 
Dene Ward
 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Author
    Dene Ward has taught the Bible for more than  forty years, spoken at women’s retreats and lectureships, and has written both devotional books and class materials. She lives in Lake Butler, Florida, with her husband Keith.


    Categories

    All
    A Wives Series
    Bible People
    Bible Study
    Birds & Animals
    Book Reviews
    Camping
    Children
    Cooking Kitchen
    Country Life
    Discipleship
    Everyday Living
    Faith
    Family
    Gardening
    Grace
    Guest Writer
    History
    Holiness
    Humility Unity
    Materialism
    Medical
    Music
    Prayer
    Psalms
    Salvation
    Trials

    Archives

    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly