Humans have a habit of making comparisons. In some cases, this is justified, such as I need to buy a car, and I want it to fit my needs—like hold my golf clubs easily, get good gas mileage, and look cool—so I make my pros and cons list, compare them, and then buy the best option. Comparisons are good when in the buying market.

But we have a bad habit of comparing humans to humans, and this never ends well. We often judge the quality of our lives by what others share with us (whether in person or via social media), and much of the time, our lives come up wanting. Others are traveling, enjoying friends, and posting low golf scores while we are stuck at home paying for home repairs and wondering where our golf swing went.

As Christians, however, we often do the opposite. Too often (even though deep down we know this isn’t true) we compare ourselves to others and conclude that we have lived or are living a more righteous life than our neighbor, and, therefore, are held in higher esteem by God.

But nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, in Isaiah 66:2, it says: “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”

But even more relevant is the reminder that God’s grace and mercy extends to everyone, and Jesus’s cloak of righteousness, spread over us at the moment of salvation, makes everyone of us “whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). We now all look the same to Him—Cleansed.

Which is why I like this saying on my Amish perpetual calendar.

There's one good thing about snow, it makes your fields look as nice as your neighbor’s. (sic)  January 12.

For it reminds me that when I start being judgemental or developing a critical spirit, that I, too, am in need of God's grace and  mercy, and His willingness to  make me “whiter than snow.”

I believe that the Bible is one cohesive book despite being comprised of 66 disparate books and written by 40 different authors over a span of 1500 years.

I also know that it is God’s love story to us, a story about failure and restoration; separation and reunion.

But I really hadn’t connected the dots in other ways . . . until last week.

I was reading Psalm 19:7-9 the other day. Listen to the words.






The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart;
the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever;
the judgments of the LORD are true, being altogether righteous.

Do those bolded words sound familiar? They did to me, too. Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I have often debated what things Paul meant when he said “true, noble, right, and pure,” and have always assigned them a human counterpart. And commentaries would support this, as there was some discord in the Philippian church, and Paul was encouraging them to focus on these uplifting and God-pleasing attributes instead of their differences.

However, what hit home to me was that the source of these attributes is God’s Word itself as David writes in Psalm 19. God’s Word is all these things. If we read and instill His Word, then we cannot but help focus on and live a life defined by these qualities.

Likewise, later in the chapter in verse 14 David writes:

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

And just like that, Matthew 15:18 comes to mind:

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart.

The Bible is indeed unified in purpose(s): to reveal a loving God; to proclaim salvation through Christ; and to encourage and enable us to bring glory to God by becoming more Christlike every day.

Dot to dot to dot.

It was just a small word. A preposition actually. A word that shows the relationship between two words. I might have missed it completely except it caught my attention because it wasn’t the word I was expecting. It might not even be the most accurate translation, but it provided an “ah-hah” moment for me.

Because it was so unexpected, I looked up quite a few other versions, and they all used the word “on,” but the version I was reading on this particular day was the New King James Version, and it said “in,” and that made all the difference to me.


Here is the verse:

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

Why did the word “in” have such an impact on me?

Because “in” places you in a very different position than “on” does. “In” means you are immersed; you are surrounded; there is nowhere you can look that you don’t see it and feel it.

“On” allows you some distance. You can remain separate. You can remain removed if you want.

I know that’s not what the verse implies. The verse commands us to think about God's words and what they mean, so that we will know God’s will, can be obedient, and, consequently, successful in whatever way God deems. And I am sure that if we spend “day and night” thinking about God’s Word—his commands, his promises—then we will be totally immersed.

But on this particular day, it took one little word to bring that message home.

If that is the power that just one word out of the 807,000+ words in the Bible can have, just image the power of all of them.

It is the start of yet another year, and with each year comes the setting of goals—some new, some old.

One of my favorite movies is Miss Congeniality starring Sandra Bullock as the clumsy undercover FBI agent posing as Miss USA beauty pageant contestant, Gracie Hart. When it gets to the question and answer segment, the question asked of each contestant is, “What is the one most important thing our society needs?”

The four contestants prior to Gracie answer, as expected, “World Peace.” One even says, “That’s easy. World Peace.”



Gracie, of course, as an FBI agent, honestly responds, “Harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan.”

When her response is met with an incredibly long and loud silence, she amends her answer by saying, “and world peace.” To which the crowd erupts in cheers.

The answer of “world peace” to such situational questions has become a standing joke. Why? Because it is not easy. And not at all feasible until Christ returns, the world is judged, and He sets up His new kingdom.

That is why I Thessalonians 5:3 says, “For when they say ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a woman.” No one, besides Christ, can offer true and lasting peace and safety. To believe differently is to be sucked into a lie, just as this verse states: Right when the world thinks they have achieved peace at the hand of the antichrist, the tables will turn, and distress, devastation, and destruction will ensue.

Though we are all to pursue peace, as Paul exhorts in Romans 12:18: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone,” in this fallen world, perfect world peace will never be achieved.

As we enter the new year, I think we should heed Paul’s exhortation and “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” We should work as hard as possible to live peacefully. But we must also be aware that the world, using the world’s playbook, can never guarantee it.

Despite this dim international forecast, each of us can have individual peace, for as Isaiah reminds us, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you” ( Isaiah 26:3).

One of the qualities that separates us from other animals is our ability to imagine. Only humans can look to the future and dream of something different.  

We know that every creative act is an act of the imagination. Every drawing or book or invention began as a mere spark of an idea that the individual then built upon combining knowledge, contemplation, and imagination.


Courageous acts also have their birth in the imagination. We perceive a better life either for ourselves or our fellow man, and then we take that first step to make it happen.

Because we were made in God’s image, we were made to be creators—to imagine what could be and then, as Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek so famously said, “Make it so”.

There is one very important thing, though, that we must remember when using our imagination. We must keep it under the sovereignty of God.

The Bible warns of the futility of making plans without first submitting them to God since none of us knows what tomorrow will bring. (James 4:13-15). Proverbs 16:9 reminds us that --The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

Likewise, imagining the future without a relationship with the God who loves us unconditionally leads either to unchecked pride or hopelessness and despair.

So as you enter this new year, imagine what you would like your life to be this year, then submit it, in all humility to God. Then as you pursue the life you imagine, follow God’s leading with the full assurance that while you may envision a certain future, God knows the one that is best.

Finally, as each year passes, one future event comes ever closer—our face to face meeting with our Savior. Whether it is through our own passing, or His return, what that meeting will be like is one we can’t possibly imagine in full. Bart Millard of MercyMe contemplates this greatest act of the imagination and presents it so wonderfully in his song, “I Can Only Imagine.”

Enjoy and Happy New Year!