Have you ever taken a verse with you throughout the year? Pondering it, meditating on it, studying it? Looking up each individual word in the verse? Thinking about the time in which it was written? Analyzing every aspect of it, culturally, philosophically, emotionally? Reciting it daily? Living it?

This will be my first year doing that. The idea may not be new to you but it just came into my conscious thought this morning. As an eclectic reader many genres cross my path, however, Bible study is consistently on my current reading list.

My 2019 verse is from the King James Bible (authorized version of 1611). When the initial thought occurred, the task of choosing one scripture from 23,145 verses seemed like a challenging task, formidable even.

Thankfully, and interestingly, the verse chose me. The Holy Spirit presented it to me, or the universe conspired to put the right thought followed a few moments later by the right verse in front of me, or the angels assigned to me know what I need to focus on this year and made sure it came into my consciousness. Any one, or all, of these things could be true.

Each year it seems my mind has gotten busier, racing from thought to thought, topic to topic. Focusing on one thing has become more difficult. There is so much information readily available via the printed word, audio, and the World Wide Web. Accumulating and layering the information by reading, listening, searching is easy; absorbing the information, not so easy. Absorbing requires focus, lack of distraction, commitment, conscious thinking, sub-conscious programming, dedication, discipline.

Distractions are so plentiful and often very subtle, to the point that we don’t even realize we are being distracted. Then suddenly the year is gone and we didn’t get to half of the things on our todo list, or even fully absorb one thing.

Absorbing one verse throughout the entire year, focusing on it daily without distractions, is that even possible to accomplish in this world?

When God speaks we should listen. He speaks to us in so many ways but we usually don’t, can’t, even hear Him because we are distracted. This time His direction was clear: continue to study and take one verse with you throughout 2019; a few minutes later the verse was revealed to me.

Romans 12:9 will be my 2019 scripture verse. This morning documentation began as I read Bullinger’s reference notes and appendixes, looked up each word using Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, pondered my dad’s interpretation of the verse and formed my own initial interpretation of how the verse applies to my life right now.

The understanding of how perfect this verse is for me at this moment in time confirmed that the conscious thought of taking a verse with me throughout the year, followed by a specific verse being revealed, all came from my Creator. It always delights my soul that God knows me so well and reaffirms my belief that He wants an intimate personal relationship with each one of us.

Taking this verse with me on my daily journey through the next year will challenge my commitment and test my obedience. It is a simple yet complex verse that can have impacts of great magnitude, IF it is absorbed through focus and dedication.

Time will tell.

Happy New Year!

E.A. Fussell

1/1/2019

Romans 12:9 KJV

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.