Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, September 29, 2023
What you see in the photo are some stats from my baby book. I had to darken and contrast the photo a bit so you could read my proud mother’s pencil-writing. As you’ll see, I was no super-child; my numbers are about equal to those of other ordinary young citizens.
And notice my first word? When you stop and think about it, “Ma-ma” is actually the easiest word for a baby to utter. Simply start saying “ahhhhh,” and flap your lips together a couple of times, and you will cause your mother’s heart to tingle with joy. Even though Dad (“Da-da”) was a close second, he must have felt a bit dejected at not being my first choice. But the “d” sound is a little trickier to get across the infant larynx than the “m.”
Speaking of first words, have you ever heard God’s first word? I don’t mean His first-ever word, but the first word which called our planet into existence. We don’t know whether or not He spoke in Hebrew, but if so, it was a simple word: yehee. Sounds strange, right? It means “Let there be,” or “let [whatever] come into existence.”
God used this word several times in Genesis 1, and each time He spoke it, creation happened. With His words, God created light, dry land, vegetation, fish, animals and so on. When God speaks, power and creativity happens. When Jesus spoke “Peace, be still” to the winds and the waves on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:39) they calmed immediately.
Why are God’s words important? Jesus also quoted the Old Testament in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
And God and His Son make it very clear that our own words are important. We don’t have His creative power, but what we say can bring joy or bitterness into a vulnerable person’s heart. For more about the power of our words, click this link: