-Alpha, Beta, Gamma-

I am half way through my fourth semester of Greek, and I am loving it. It took me a long time to get the hang of it, but it is both awesome and humbling to be able to look at the original text of the New Testament, and study the different words and their range of meanings. Despite lots of practice, I still have trouble scripting a couple of the Greek letters. Sometimes my straight lines looked curved and my curved lines look wavy, but I’m working on it. I don’t feel too bad though; students have been struggling with Greek for thousands of years. When Socrates, the great philosopher, taught and trained his students how to write Greek in 415 BC, he expected nothing short of perfection. In fact, to insure the correct form in writing, Socrates chiseled the Greek letters on a stone tablet, and made the students put their papers on the tablet and trace over the letters, making every word uniform and perfect. It took a lot of time and work by the students, but in the end they were the best Greek scholars and translators in the world.

Little did Socrates know that his actions were a foreshadowing of God’s big plan for the world. About 400 years after Socrates, God sent His son to the world to act as a “guide” for all Christians. Through Jesus, God chiseled out an example of what a Christian should look like, sound like, and act like. That example is available to us some 2000 years later in the Bible. Much like those early Greek students, we as Christians must compare our lives to the master plan of Christ. When we are struggling with the everyday toils of life, we must trace our actions and attitudes to match those of Jesus. God wants us to be effective witnesses for Him. It will take some time and some hard work, but with the example of Jesus and the instructions of the Creator, we can become the best disciples of Christ in the world.

-Spending time in the Word-

1. In Colossians 3:1-17, our attitudes and actions change when Christ lives in us.
2. James 1:19-27 encourages us not to just read the Bible, but to obey it and apply it to our lives.

-Hiding the Word in your heart-

Memorize these verses as you continue to learn and study the Word of God daily.

1. John 13:5- Jesus said, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
2. Proverbs 4:5- “Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.”