Living words and lived words. What's the difference? This morning I was reading a book by an author who was talking about their experiences in prayer. Christian biography can be an invaluable supplement to regular Bible reading and mediation - since the biography contains "lived words". The author in question had an experiential walk with God, that was based upon God's living words. Biographies, devotionals, commentaries and theologies are all examples of what I call "lived words". Lived words serve to depict what Christian faith looks like as it progresses in understanding, virtue and the practical affairs of the Christian life. "Lived words" may not change the soul but they do depict the life of a changed soul. Lived words are the words of men and women so impacted by God. To know God is the chief aim of life. To read the words of those who lived the Christian faith in their thought life, their virtue and in their relationship with God can influence the next generation to emulate their example.
But now what about God's "living words"? Those are in a different category of their own. The "lived words" of mature saints are but settings which have within them an intimate aquaintanced with the precious stone of the living words of God - the Bible. Living words impart Divine life and power. Living words are God's words that change the soul and impart life to the human spirit by way of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit attends the scriptures in their reading, hearing and explanation.
Final thought
Unless we daily read, think upon and act out God's living words, we ourselves won't have "lived words" to describe our lives. Today, let's read, meditate and live out God's "living words" - the Bible; so that we can be described by others with lived words - that is - as those who lived the Christian life everyday.