Parakypsas

But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:25

I feel compelled to write. That compulsion is usually buried under all of my other responsibilities. Family, work, church... there are so many important facets of life that usually take precedence. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

A couple other things that all too often get buried are prayer time and Bible study. And I know that is not good.

So, to hit two birds with one stone, I'm going to try something. I'm going to start a weekly series of blog posts in which I will dive into scripture. This will help me to get some writing out and order my own thoughts on God's Word. By making it public, I hope that you will keep me accountable to keep it up. And, just maybe, you'll get something out of it to.

I am calling this series of posts "Parakypsas." This is the English transliteration of παρακύψας, the Greek word translated as "looks intently" in James 1:25 up above. This is an interesting word. It comes from the root words "para" (meaning beside) and "kuptó" (meaning stoop down). It literally means "stoop down beside" but is sometimes used metaphorically as if to look carefully into or inspect curiously.

The word appears 5 times in the New Testament. It was used by John and Luke to describe when Peter (Luke 24:12), John (John 20:5), and Mary (John 20:11) peered into Jesus's tomb to find it empty. It was used by Peter to describe how angels longed to look at and study the Gospel message taught by those who preach it (1 Peter 1:12).

James used it to describe how we should read scripture:

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

My hope is that through this series of posts, we will truly stoop down and get close to scripture, examine it carefully, and be changed forever.

My goal is for these posts to be published at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday mornings. The first one should go live March 9. I hope you will join me!