A Strong Hold

I enjoyed yesterday's message in church. It was from Philippians 3 on things we should be striving for Biblically. Somewhere around the third point or so, Pastor Sansone gave a visual on holding on to God's Word. Since I am a visual learner, the illustration was great and really made me look at how I am living. He used the hand as the illustration:

• the pinky - hearing God's Word
• the ring finger - reading God's Word
• the middle finger - studying God's Word
• the pointer - memorizing God's Word
• the thumb - meditating on God's Word

I am sure you could put these in any order, but the point (no pun intended) was to show that without all five fingers "holding" onto God's Word, it was very difficult. Each finger used alone was not very effective, but combined you get a strong grasp on the word of God. Pastor Sansone added a 6th element - obeying God's Word. To me this was the sum of the five equaling a two hand grasp which is by far more effective and secure than one and isn't that what God wants - a secure hold on His word? I don't think I will look at my hands quite the same way again. Knowing that each finger has an assignment attached to it will certainly make me more aware of what God wants from me and what I want from myself.