Word for 2012 in Review

Mine: adj.  That which belongs to me.  This was my word for 2012.

It's one of the first words we learn to say.  Spend time with most toddlers & you'll hear this word spoken with passion.  Parents work hard to teach the concept of "sharing" because no one likes to be around a selfish brat.

So why did I choose such a selfish word for myself?  It comes from Deuteronomy 29:29-- "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever."

The past several years I've picked words that did little for me.  So I'm pleased and somewhat surprised that this year's word had such an impact on me.  Perhaps the power of this word came from the fact that it wasn't a "motivational" word like the previous words I chose.  Those words had the power of New Year's resolutions--they were my efforts to change or improve some area of my life that was lacking.

The word "mine" was rooted in a quest for revelation.  I wanted to learn what God has given to me--what is mine.

If I wrote out everything God revealed to me I would bore you all and take more time than I can give.  But the word that sums it up for me is "grace".  I've known the concept & doctrine of grace as written in the Bible.  I've studied it and taught about it.  I believe in salvation through grace by faith.  But knowing and possessing are two different things.

Knowing grace didn't keep me from feeling like I need to do good things & religious things to earn God's favor.  Knowing grace meant that when I fall short of good I felt unworthy to talk to God.  Knowing grace was better than not knowing grace, but it fell way short of possessing grace.

The Holy Spirit talked to me about grace through the parable of the prodigal son.  What I realized was that neither son truly knew the grace of his father.  The younger thought he'd have to be demoted to a servant to come back home.  The older thought that his faithful service earned him favor.

 What the father said to both his sons was, "Everything I have is yours."  Somewhere along the line of going through this year I learned to possess this promise.  It is grace.