I just completed a 7-day challenge issued by one of my cousins. She had been tagged on Facebook and challenged to post a Bible verse – and to tag and nominate someone else to do the same – for each of the next seven days. I was one of the people she chose.

I took on the challenge, although I decided to skip the part about asking others to do the same. Even though I could easily think of seven other people who would probably enjoy taking part, it felt to me like the online equivalent of sending chain letters, which is something I don’t like to do.

But I did like the idea of posting my favorite Bible verses.

I grew up learning and memorizing Catechism questions and answers, not Bible verses – although I learned the Bible stories through religion classes at my Catholic school and through the Gospel and homilies at Mass. As an adult, however, I’ve found many Bible verses that give me comfort and encouragement, and serve as a guiding light to me in different ways and in different areas of my life. Taking part in this 7-day challenge gave me the opportunity to share some of them with others, as well as to revisit and reinforce them in my own life.

Since I don’t have them all memorized chapter and verse, I had to look some of them up to make sure I got the precise wording and the correct attribution for each of them. Doing this online allowed me to see multiple translations of the different verses, and I enjoyed noting and comparing the style and the wording of each of them.

I also enjoyed sharing – with anyone who was reading my posts – my commentary on some of the verses, such as the inspiration I got from “For I know the plans I have for you,” to the reminder to “Be still and know that I am God.” And I enjoyed “bookending” the week with two of my favorite Bible verses that encourage us all to love one another. The fact that my week of posting Bible verses happened to finish up on Mother’s Day seemed like a nice touch.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the number of people who responded in one way or another to my posts. I am not exactly a social media star, and don’t really spend much time on Facebook or other social media sites. So it was encouraging – and a bit surprising –to hear not only from a number of different people, but people from many different areas and backgrounds. I was especially touched by the person who said that she loved reading my posts, and suggested I do it every day.

For now, the 7-day challenge was enough of a commitment for me with regard to posting the verses on Facebook. But I plan to continue reading and reflecting on new Bible verses every day. They’re good words to remember and to live by, no matter who it is that’s challenging me to do so.

The column “Find Your Buried Treasure” appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on May 14, 2015.
©Betty Liedtke, 2015

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