Concordances

Romans 12:6a

"Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly..."

Most anyone can appreciate the usefulness of a concordance. They help you find a verse you were trying to remember, or give you a starting place for a topical study. If you want to know what the Bible says about fear, for instance, you could look up the word fear and see every time it's mentioned in the Bible. Now not all of those references are going to be useful, but as I said, it gives you a starting place. It also helps when you’re looking for a verse you thought said one thing, but when you look it up, meant something slightly different.

I use an online concordance (biblestudytools.com) constantly. I love the online access, too, because it’s right here on my computer while I’m working on my blog. It has a built-in feature to look up the meaning of the original greek and hebrew words, and see where else those words are used in the Bible. This can really shed light on something you're studying, and can even change or give a deeper meaning to a passage!

I am incredibly thankful God gifted certain people with the passion to index and organize so we have things like concordances at our fingertips. The better we understand His Word, the better we can know and nurture our relationship with Christ!

What was your last discovery in your relationship with Him? What would you like to learn about next?