Word Nerd Wednesday: Zateo/Seek

Honesty will always be my policy here, so here’s an honest moment: when I opened my Bible tonight, I didn’t expect to spend hours studying and journaling. I started out with watercolor pencils in my read-the-Bible-for-the-simple-joy-of-reading-the-Bible Bible (Message Canvas Bible). YouTube was playing in the background, but not anything super “spiritual”, just a plan with me video I was already watching. I’ve had a long day today, so I gave myself permission to just use the beautiful illustrations on the first page of Romans to unwind and relax.

But then… Even though I didn’t ask Him to, God spoke to me. Because the next video that played showed an adorable couple leading a Bible study in Philippians, and her process of journaling and illustrating what they learned. That video inspired me to journal and study more deeply myself in Romans 2, which a small group I’m part of has been working through this week.

Which brings me to this in verses 6-8: “He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life, but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” I ended up focusing on the first part of these verses, but wanted to include the second part to show the contrast between the two ways of life and the consequences our choices can have.

I zeroed in on the word “seek” in this study. What did it mean in the original Greek? Using the Blue Letter Bible app, I discovered that our word seek can actually mean “To seek in order to find by thinking, meditating, reasoning, to enquire into; to seek after, seek for, aim at, strive after; to crave, demand something from someone.”

These are the things I want to keep in mind, even when reading the Bible purely for enjoyment or to savor the language of it. I will soak in, meditate on, think about, crave, and aim for the glory and honor and eternal life that Paul talks about in Romans 2. Will you?

Blue Letter Bible

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