2020 Word of the Year
Welcome to the new year! Just like last year, I needed some help selecting my “Word of the Year”. This quiz from Dayspring is a fantastic resource for those seeking a word of faith that will fill the year with a purpose for growing closer to God. The word selected for me last year was DELIGHT and it was a perfect fit. I was encouraged to find delight in the Lord and His Word in all the little moments of motherhood, work, and just the trenches of life. It’s not something I would have come up with myself, and I discovered some new favorite passages of Scripture that feature this special word.
This year’s word is just as unique and, again, not something I would have come up with myself!
But I’m really digging into it, and excited about using this word as a focal point for my personal devotionals and daily habits. After identifying my word, my first step was to look up verses in the Bible featuring it. There are 42! Just about enough to focus on one per week for the rest of the year (with a little grace time). The most obvious and well-known is in the book of John, where Christ is speaking to his disciples about the vine and the branches.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
John 15:4
I also wanted to get a better grasp on the meaning of the word itself since it’s not as commonly used these days. A quick search online turned up the following:
Old English abidan, gebidan “remain, wait, wait for, delay, remain behind,” from ge- completive prefix (denoting onward motion; see a- (1)) + bidan “bide, remain, wait, dwell” (see bide).
Originally intransitive (with genitive of the object: we abidon his “we waited for him”); transitive sense “endure, sustain, stay firm under,” also “tolerate, bear, put up with” (now usually with a negative) is from c. 1200. Related: Abided; abiding. The historical conjugation was abide, abode, abidden, but in Modern English the formation generally is weak. Abide with “stay with (someone); live with; remain in the service of” is from c. 1300.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/abide
Extremely helpful! Abiding in Christ is “waiting upon the Lord” in a much closer, more personal sense, since He is fully human as we are. It is a mode of service, dedication and fulfillment in God that can be mutual only in the relationship that He has created for us through His life, death and resurrection. Christ’s mediation is the source of our abiding — He is our abode on earth and He has made our abode with Him in heaven. What a beautiful picture of our relationship with Jesus, especially for a homemaker!
In addition to the whole chapter of John 15 as a key focus of study and meditation for me this year, I’m also looking forward to using a free study I found online by Jen Wilkins titled ‘Abide’ that works through the books of 1, 2 and 3 John. https://www.heartstrongfaith.com/bible-study-abide-123-john/
Additionally, I discovered what is called the ‘Abide Method’ from Risen Motherhood, which is a specific approach to studying the Bible. The website states “it is a way of studying the Bible that puts God first.” Sounds good to me! It’s truly wonderful how many resources are easily available online these days and I’m excited to have these new tools at my disposal to really integrate the word ABIDE into this new year.
Leave a Reply