Months ago I started a blog post about starters.
I talked about three types of starters:
A car starter
A first string starter
A sour-dough starter
Now I thought of a fourth, a person who doesn’t finish but begins is also a starter!
What does the word starter mean to you?
Growing up with a father who could fix anything, a starter was a part that could go bad on a car and my dad could replace. He worked in the car industry and so automotive conversations are always a given.
We also talked about starters in basketball, those players who got to be on the court at the beginning of the game.
A friend of mine gave me some sour-dough starter and that is the one that has been on my mind (and hands) for the last few months.
One word can have so many meanings.
When given a context, a word’s meaning can clarified. My father did not replace the car part with sour-dough starter. If he did, my car would be a mess and I’d be very worried about him!
Sometimes when we look at the Bible we wonder about what a word means. The word brother sometimes makes people wonder. Depending on the context it could mean a brother or sister or a brother in Christ. We know this based on the Greek origin of the word and the declensions.
James 1:19 certainly applies to sisters as well. We are loved members of this family of faith and are to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.
"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;" (James 1:19ESV)
Maybe you have been a Jesus-follower a long time, or maybe you are a just starting, either way the same Word is implanted in you!
Sour-dough starter is amazing to watch grow. We feed it with flour and water. It bubbles and then we know it is ready to be put to use in making bread.
Our faith needs to be fed as well. The Living Word is there for us. God places us in community. We follow the Holy Spirit. Our identity is new through the work of Christ!
A starter in the vehicle enables it to move. Our God gave us faith and that gift changed everything! We are no longer dead in our sins but alive in Christ! We are on the go for His glory!
A basketball starter is a chosen team member to get on that court and face an adversary. In faith, we are chosen for this time and place, and we are not alone. Someone else calls the shots and we find victory in obedience.
Sour-dough starter is passed on person to person and generation to generation. This faith we live out spreads! We must share it! Sometimes it just bubbles out of us with joy and sometimes we feel that kneaded and heated element of being conformed into the likeness of God’s Son.
I mentioned at the top that I was a starter because I had not finished this post yet. Philippians 1:6 reminds me that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it! Amen!
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6ESV
A Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the way You speak to us! Thank you for starting me on this journey of faith. Thank you that you always finish what you start! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Questions to Ponder
When did you start this journey with Jesus?
How have you grown in your faith?
Why do you share Jesus with others?
Sour-dough Basics
Ephesians 1:10 ESV
as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.