Rattling through my brain . . .

Yesterday I was blessed to teach our women's class at church. We're looking at different topics and how they are addressed in the books of Psalms and Proverbs. The title of the class is "Wisdom of the heart and wisdom of the head." My topic? "The Law of the Lord / the Word of God," which meant that I got to spend a lot of time in Psalm 119.

There were certain things I wanted to say:

• The law of God does not equal a list of things to do. No one can live up to that.
• Facts and truth are not the same thing. Chew on that one for a while.
• We have to choose what we will listen to and with what framework we will view the world
• We must breathe in and breathe out the Word of God

There was so much that I wanted to say -- so many things I wanted to do. I thought of the NT scripture that talks about the washing of the water of the Word. When was the last time you let God's word just wash over you? I think we miss something by making our intake of God's word a primarily word-based experience. We read. We underline. We read other people's ideas.

When was the last time you sat with your eyes closed and just listened to the Word of God being spoken? Not a sermon -- just His word?

Friday night I had an experience that reinforced that importance to me. My sister sings in a small choir in Memphis and they performed parts of Handel's Messiah on Friday. I was blessed to attend. It was held in a beautiful Episcopal building so I was surrounded by salvation-focused art. In addition to Sheila's group, the Memphis boy's choir sang and they were accompanied by members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

I don't know if you're familiar with the text of Messiah, but it's all scripture and journeys throughout Jesus' life. I've sung it before so both the words and the music are a part of my soul. I was able to sit, close my eyes, and hear "Worthy is the lamb who was slain!" Yes, the music was beyond beautiful, but the WORDS. Breathing in the knowledge that God did that for me was simply overwhelming. I sat between two men: a long-time friend and my brother-in-law. I told them before it started that I would cry before it was over.

I was right.

What have you been breathing lately? What are you allowing to wash over your soul? Are you intentionally choosing to listen to his Word or is the bombardment of this world taking all of your time?

And don't forget to breathe it out too. Don't keep it to yourself! Bless someone else by living like Jesus. Treat people kindly. Put others first. Feed a hungry person (your own children count!). Smile genuinely. Laugh honestly. Look for beauty in nature. Our world is one of God's biggest messages to us. Have you really noticed it lately?

The Breath of Life. The Word of God. The Law of the Lord.