According to the OED… that would be the Oxford English Dictionary, there are over 600,000 words in the English language. And assuming Google is telling me the truth on this (why would Google ever mislead me), there are 'roughly' 15 words that are being added to the English language daily — so 'roughly' 5,000 new words every year.
It would be hard to say that there's ONE word amongst all 600,000 words that is the most important word because after all, there are so many great words…
SUPER… that goes great before everything!
CATAWAMPUS… not sure what that means but it's fun to say!
KERFUFFLE… because sometimes life is just a kerfuffle.
DISCOMBOBULATED… which is how I feel when I wake at 4AM.
MOIST… actually, this might be the worst word in the English language.
Again, it would be 'super' difficult to pinpoint just ONE word as THE most important word, but this past week as I was walking through Ezekiel, I came across what I think that ONE word might be.
See this with me in Ezekiel 16:63 (NLT)
"I will forgive you for all you have done, says the Sovereign LORD."
Plenty of great words to choose from in this one verse, but the ONE word… the ONE word that I think 'might' be one of the most powerful words in the English language would be…
ALL
Imagine for a moment if Ezekiel 16:63 read like this…
"I forgive most of what you have done."
Most is good, but ALL is better!
Here's what makes ALL so stunning: this verse comes at the tail end of one of the hardest chapters in the entire Bible.
God, through the prophet Ezekiel, spends 63 verses telling His people the story of their unfaithfulness — using the picture of a marriage gone horrifically wrong… betrayal after betrayal and sin after sin.
So, by the time you get to the final verse in this long chapter, you'd expect God to say…
"I'll forgive you… eventually. Once you've earned it back. Once you've proven yourself."
But that's not what happens!
Instead, after laying out the full weight of their sinfulness, the LORD says… ALL.
Not most.
Not some.
Not a good majority.
ALL.
As I sat with this verse, the one question I could not seem to shake was this…
"DO I BELIEVE THAT ALL IS FORGIVEN?"
And for sake of clarity, the question I've been sitting with is NOT…
"Do I believe God forgives?"
Like you, I'm guessing most if not ALL of us would say, "YES, 100% God forgives!"
Again, the question is NOT does God forgive – HE DOES, but do we (you and me) believe that ALL is forgiven?
Here’s the thing… if we don't believe that, well, there are consequences.
We’ll either head towards a performance-driven faith — running ourselves ragged trying to do enough good to finally ‘feel’ forgiven of ALL or, we’ll head in the direction of discouragement, despondency and despair convincing ourselves along the way that God's forgiveness with us has a limit.
Either way, both of those road’s lead to the same exhausted place…
A FAITH THAT IS MORE FOCUSED ON WHAT WE'VE DONE THAN WHAT JESUS DID.
Whether you are brand new to Christianity or have been a Christian for as long as you can remember, or you're still trying to figure out what following Jesus is all about, please hear this one amazing truth that is not just spoken in Ezekiel 16, but throughout God's Word…
ALL MEANS ALL.
Not "ALL except that."
Not "ALL, but you still owe Me something."
Not "ALL, once you've cleaned yourself up first."
Not "ALL… but let's be honest, not THAT."
When Jesus said "It is finished" from the cross, He wasn't being poetic — He was settling accounts.
Our sin has been paid in full.
In other words… ALL!
When your mind begins dwelling on the thing you did (or the thing you keep doing), PLEASE let it dwell instead on the most powerful word in the English language in my humble opinion… ALL — three letters that can fill your heart and head with JOY and GRATITUDE for ALL that God has done.
When shame whispers, "You'll never be enough"…
When condemnation knocks and reminds you of yesterday…
When guilt begins to cry out, "You know what you did"…
When fear leans in and says, "This time might be different"…
Come back to three letters… three super-powerful letters:
ALL!
