Script
Lora Parsons
The Ashland Beacon
I was sitting in our Sunday morning small group class recently, where we have been going through a series by Dr. David Jeremiah called Overcomer. Each week, our teachers—Connie Burns or Betty Thacker—have shared with us one piece of the Armor of God, as the video paints pictures for us of what these pieces would have looked like in the Roman world, how they would have been used in battle, and how we can apply that physical battle to whatever we might encounter in our lives. The last weapon described in the series is the only offensive weapon that the Roman soldier would have used; all others were meant for defending his position and safety. But the sword was used to deliver attacking blows in the heat of battle. It was double-edged so strikes could be more efficient, and the person wielding it no longer just had the ability to thwart the blows of the enemy but also to strike back! It is no wonder that this sword, in the hands of a skilled Roman soldier, was compared to the collection of scriptures we have at our fingertips to help us fight.
Betty shared with us the two Greek words used to refer to the Bible: logos and rhema. Logos refers to the complete collection of scriptures, the entirety of the Word of God, while rhema refers to a specific set of words spoken by God. If you Google the two words and add “Greek meaning” after them, the AI overview tool that now pops up first in search results will tell you that rhema means “a thing said.” While we know that the Word of God is His spoken message to us, there’s something so personal about the idea that we can receive a specific-to-us message from our Father through that Word. He can deliver to us “a thing said” just for us, at just the time we need it. The catch, though, is that we have to be going back to the Logos (which translates into the entire collection of Scripture—the Bible) that He gave us in order to receive our own Rhema.
It was this thought about these two Greek words that got me to thinking. One, our daughter Olivia, has a friend from college whose first name is Rhema. My first thought was, what a precious name to pass along to someone—the idea that she is a spoken gift of God to this world—and the fact that we all are to be His Rhemas as well. I just loved that little detail and the fact that her life lives up to her name. But, even more, my thoughts turned to what I should personally be doing with this Word of God that has been provided for me to use. Embedded in the word “scripture,” I hear the words “script-your.” His Word is not just a collection of verses; it is His script for our life. It isn’t just script-your; it’s your-script. God’s “thing said” is a direct message to each of us, individually.
A playwright creates a script for his actors and actresses to follow step-by-step. It contains not only the words they should speak for the scene in a drama to play out just the way the author wants it to ideally play out, but it also contains the stage directions, costuming instructions, sound effects, lighting details—all of the things to make the scene unfold in the exact way the author wants it to unfold. The play may be spinning a tragic tale or a comedic sketch, but the background of its unfolding rests in the author’s original creation of it. What has been created in their mind provides a perfectly executed scene.
Our loving Heavenly Father provided the exact same thing for us in His Word. He teaches us there how to interact with others—how to speak words of mercy, grace, and truth. He provides us with costuming directions by teaching us what attitudes and demeanor we should wear as His children. He gives us sound and lighting instructions when He teaches us how to illuminate the darkness with His gentleness, how to light up the world by leaving a trail of His goodness and mercy in our wake. The Script-Your becomes Your-Script (and mine), clearly instructing us on all that He, as the author of our lives, wants us to be and do. His Word should become our words, His stage directions, our own steps. His Logos contains our own Rhema so that we can take “a thing said” to us and allow it to transform us. His script for life (Your-Script) is what we find in the Script-Your.
Ben Franklin’s tombstone draws a comparison between his body being like a book, stripped of its cover through death. It ends with: “But the work shall not be wholly lost; For it will, as he [Franklin] believed, appear once more, in a new & more perfect edition, corrected and amended by the Author.” Likewise, in following God’s script for our life, we can also become a more perfect edition, corrected and amended by our Author. His Logos contains our Rhema, the script by which we should live and move. That script is His one Word to us.
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