Welcome to Watchword devotionals. Watchwords have been a feature here at bosworth30.com since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when thee were first sent to the men in my Bible Study group. The number now receiving Watchwords has now grown to nearly 100 subscribers and, as of December 2022, more than 900 installments have been sent via e-mail.
Each one contains a scripture passage or two, a short meditation, an occasional announcement or other inspirational or humorous feature, and a closing prayer.
Subscribers are encouraged to contribute short meditations or inspirational stories, prayer requests, news, poems or just a bit of humor – and they do.
Here are a couple of the most recent Watchwords.
- The Life… - The Life: We have considered "The Way" and "The Truth" in previous Watchwords, now for a perspective on The Life. What does it mean to be given your life as a reward, as promised in the Jeremiah prophecy? Is that an easy question? I think it is for those who have surrendered their life to Jesus and feel the power of His Peace. However, we do tend to worry about silly things, such as food, clothing, drink and that other "most important" factor; what other people think about us. These are the things that take us away from the blessings of our Lord. We whine, we are impatient, we display lack of trust in God, all because we do not see the graces that abound in our lives, and rejoice in them. Continue reading
- The Truth… - The Truth: One can believe all of the right things and still be quite unaffected, untransformed by that belief. But what we “love”, shapes our lives and has great power to transform. We have seen that in our lives, both the negative and the positive of that power. Marcus Borg, in his book Convictions, makes the statement that “The Bible can be true without being literally true.” Think about that. In your Christian walk, in your core faith and belief in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, these things do not depend on elements being literally true, only that you are committed to those "truths". Marcus Borg tells us that "Our Biblical ancestors told the stories they told, not for the sake of providing a reliable history of something. Rather, they told the stories they told because of the meanings they saw in the stories." Continue reading
Browse earlier Watchwords
If you have thoughts or humorous items
to contribute, please feel free to Contact me
I am now usually sending out Watchwords on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but sometimes at other times (especially around holidays).
Sign up now (below) to start receiving them.
A footnote. I know that we use a lot of different Bible commentaries in our studies and they are helpful. One that I like is Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik. He really speaks to me in language that even I can understand, and he is very thorough as he goes through chapter by chapter. Another feature of his writings is that he does not hesitate to quote other theologians in order to make a clear point.
