Viral Bible Verses

Have you ever thought about how a Bible verse becomes popular?  I Have.  Did you know that there are 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and 7,957 verses in the New Testament, making a grand total of 31,102 verses in the entire Bible?  Each is just as important as the next or God would not have included them in His book.

Some verses are more popular than others i.e., John 3:16, Philippians 4:13, Genesis 1:1, I John 1:1 are just a few.  On occasion someone will make a t-shirt with a verse printed on the front or on the back, put a verse on a coffee mug or even on a piece of jewelry.  Suddenly, the verse goes viral and everyone is quoting the verse and talking about it with their friends on how it has impacted their lives.  Don’t get me wrong, I think this is wonderful because any scripture hidden in your heart can never be taken away.  This is a good thing.  But what about the other 31,101 verses that may never go viral.

Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the viral verses but it is not meant to be a stand-alone verse.  Verses 12 and 13 give the instructions on what we must do in order to receive the plan the Lord has for us. “For I have a plan for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, but plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,” declares the LORD,” Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV). 

To say God is generous is an understatement.  After all in verse 11 He told us He had a plan for us and it is a good plan because we are going to receive something from God.  We receive far more than what we are worthy just by getting out of bed in the morning.  But in these verses God is speaking directly the people of Jerusalem who will be held captive in Babylon for seventy years then He will come for them and fulfill the promise He made to them.  But, before the promise can be fulfilled they must seek Him with all their heart and then they will find Him and He will bring them back to their home.  His promise to the people of Jerusalem is no different than the one we have today and the instructions are the same. Call upon me, pray to me and I will listen. This is not an easy command.  With the busyness of our lives today we often pray on the way to work or in the shower.  Praying is not always the same as seeking and finding the Lord.  Prayers become superficial and for lack of a better term ‘rote – same thing every time’. 

God does have a plan for you but are you seeking Him and  praying to Him.  If you truly are seeking and praying He will reveal His plan for your life to you a little bit at a time.  If he revealed it all at once our heads would blow up from the overload.

When you run across a viral verse always take time to look it up and read it in context for an even richer blessing.

I hope you can understand what I have written today.  Satan did not want it to go out.  The internet has been down three times this morning when I hit ‘post’ it all goes away.  Everything would probably have made more sense if you were sitting across the table from me and we could discuss this over a cup of coffee.  God bless, enjoy the gift of today and enjoy the flowers.