I love lists. They help me remember. The Bible uses lists, too, to help us remember. Let’s look at some.

¹ My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.

The first set is: Accept, store up, turn, and apply. These are the conditions of our mind. Are we open to the Word of God? Are we willing to receive them as truth and apply them to our lives today?

ACCEPT, STORE UP, TURN, APPLY

The second set is: Look, search, understand and find. We Look in the meaning in God’s Word and search it for truth, the truth that the Spirit wants to impart to us today. We have the promise that He will help us to understand and we will find meaning and purpose, and we will understand our LORD and God just a little better.

LOOK, SEARCH, UNDERSTAND, FIND

There is another list here, a partial list: Words and commands. In Psalm 119, these words are used interchangeably with five others: Promises, law, statutes, decrees and precepts. David used each one in each section. That psalm is definitely a masterpiece! If you haven’t read it lately, I highly recommend it.

WORDS, COMMANDS, PROMISES, LAW, STATUTES, DECREES, PRECEPTS

Another partial list comes from chapter one of Proverbs: Wisdom, understanding, insight and knowledge. They are part of the list given us in Proverbs 1:2-6. The others are instruction, prudence and discretion. I believe they are the seven pillars mentioned in Proverbs 9:1.

WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING, INSIGHT, KNOWLEDGE, INSTRUCTION PRUDENCE, DISCRETION

Another list that I find fascinating is the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance [patience], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. They are in three’s:

Love, joy and peace are one-syllable words that are given to us by the Holy Spirit. They emanate from God Himself. When we stand close to Him, they penetrate deep into our souls. It is wise to draw close to Him often!

Patience, kindness and goodness are two-syllable words that are action words. We practise these fruits daily. When we display these fruits, we are most like Christ.

Faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are three-syllable words that reveal our inner nature as we become like Christ. They are long-term descriptions of us as we are transformed into His image and conformed to His likeness.

LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL

As we can see, lists are good for locking into our memories God’s Word. Let’s accept, store up, turn, and apply God’s Word to our hearts and lives today. Let us look and search for meaning and application knowing that we will find out and understand what it means to fear the LORD (recognize that He is God, King of the universe, and yet, calls us to sit beside Him in the heavenly realms!) and find the knowledge of God (His will and plan revealed to us by His Spirit–as needed and as much as our finite minds can hold).

Abba, I pray that my readers will gain a desire to study Your Word. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if we  continue studying Your Word–the originals!–in heaven, or at least, in Jerusalem during the Millennial Reign. It is by itself a masterpiece like none other! I look forward to knowing it fully as I get started here on this earth. I love You. Thank You for supplying us with such a unique book through which You speak to me. May I treat it as the treasure it is. Amen.