Skip to main content

The Fewer, the Better and the Simpler, the Better!

Sometimes, the fewer the words, the better… 

Many would probably argue that the most important words in the English language, when strung altogether in the right order, are just three simple words.  And each of those three words is just a one syllable word.  So, not only the fewer the better but also, as a bonus, the simpler, the better!

Oh, the three words…they are “I love you” – few, simple and altogether meaningful!     

God used them to encourage His people, the people of Israel:  “You are priceless to me. I love you and honor you. So I will trade other people for you. I will give up other nations to save your lives.” (Isa 43:4)

The significance of the words “I love you” is inestimable, especially when used in a way that communicates value and commitment

And when you look at Jeremiah 31:3, you see a past tense of those words so that “I love you” is “I have loved you”.  But that’s not all that the verse says, the “I have loved you” is wonderfully qualified:  “I have loved you with an everlasting love”.

I would also suggest that there is a series of four words that, when strung together in the right order, have almost equal importance as the three above.  Amazingly, these four words are also just one syllable each:  “I am with you” – few, simple and altogether meaningful!

Again, God used them to encourage His peopleThen Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.”  (Hag 1:13)

The significance of the words “I am with you” is also inestimable, especially when used in a way that communicates value and commitment.

And when you look at Matthew 28:20, you see that the phrase “I am with you” is wonderfully qualified:  “I am with you always, to the end of the age”.

"I love you” and “I am with you”, just a few words that do fall into that category of “the fewer the words, the better.”  And, since they are also just one syllable words, “the simpler, the better” seems appropriate.

But greater still, the words have inestimable value because they are spoken by God in reference to us.  And when you add in the descriptors of everlasting and always, well the value becomes inestimably inestimable! 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Excel Still More!

To excel, according to some of the meanings from a few dictionaries, is to surpass others, do extremely well, outdo, do something better than anyone else. In 1 Thessalonians 4:1, we find the phrase “excel still more”.   It prompts the question:  if we are already doing something better than anyone else, why would we be encouraged to do even more? Perhaps it would be helpful to see the wording that other translations use for “excel still more” to see why we would be encouraged to do so.  Here is a sampling: • abound more and more • to keep doing so more and more • but try even harder • live that way more and more. • that you progress even more. • that you increase more and more in how you ought to walk Maybe it would also be helpful to see some other verses where the word “excel” is used: “Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means Dorcas); this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually.”...

Value Proposition

Value proposition:  it’s a marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should buy a product or use a service.  It should clearly and concisely communicate what customers can gain from selecting a particular brand over that of its competitors. In a value proposition, you don’t want your product to be viewed as being worth less than what your competitors offer.   But even worse, in a bit of a quirk of how letters and spaces can fall, if you take out the space between “worth” and “less”, you get “worthless”, which means something of no value.   If that word is used in conjunction with how your product is viewed by customers, it’s a word that will likely kill your brand. In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul, in a sense, communicated some value propositions. In chapter three, he starts off with describing the value of some things that many considered as extremely valuable in that day and age.   They had to do with status and achievement in the reli...

New Year Trash or Treasure?

You probably know the old saying:  “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.  I am not going to try to prove or disprove it, just look at it from a different angle. Cheryl and I were recently walking on a beach in Florida .  A man was walking along with a bag and was picking up trash and putting it in the bag.  Was he picking up things of value? We also saw a different man walking along the same beach with a metal detector.  He would swing it back and forth and would occasionally stop and dig in the sand.  Was he looking for things of value? Both were intent.  Both were focused.  Both were diligent. I’m guessing that the one picking up trash was not looking for things of value.  I’m also guessing that, by picking up trash, he was valuing the beauty of the beach and didn’t want the trash to mar it.  The one with the metal detector, I’m guessing that he was not looking for metallic items of trash but was looking for...