SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

I once had a professor who stated one could learn any school subject by using just the Bible as a textbook.

I began thinking. Reading? Of course. Writing? Certainly. Arithmetic? Yep. (That takes care of the three R's!) History? Absolutely -- at least ancient history. Ditto for geography. Science? Biology? Some, maybe. But what intrigued me was Grammar--that subject that so many people detested in school! Then a thought struck me years ago. Why not write a devotional book called "Grammar in the Bible?" While I've never followed through on writing such a devotional guide, I've made an impressive list of subjects, including Bible references, to write about. So here goes the first devotional re Grammar in the Bible.

Do you recall the simple definition of a sentence? A sentence is a group of words with a subject and predicate which expresses a complete idea. A sentence fragment, on the other hand, while it begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, or whatever, is NOT a complete thought.

How often Christians are guilty of using just certain parts of Bible verses instead of complete thoughts and ideas when quoting Scripture.

Take James 5:16, for example. Many times we start in the middle of the verse and quote just the last half. We glibly spout, "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Technically speaking, that is not a sentence fragment, for it has both a subject and predicate and is a complete thought. But while it is a complete thought, that thought depends upon the first part of the verse which says, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed." I'm wondering if that verse is not saying that in order for our prayers to be effective, they should be preceded by confessions not necessarily of our sins, but just what we consider faults and failures. And we need to pray for one another. Then, and only then, can we expect our prayers to be effective.

Or how about Ephesians 3:20, my favorite Bible verse. We put a period in the middle of a sentence and stop. We often say that God is "able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think -- period. But there is no period there. There's a following condition that affects that quote. God only does exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think "according to the power that worketh in us!" (And frankly, there is no period there, either. The sentence goes on into the next verse giving glory to Christ Jesus.) I like the Living Bible paraphrase which puts the condition first: "Now glory be to God who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of -- infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes."

Romans 8:28 is a prime example of starting in the middle of a verse and then putting a period where there is none. How often have you heard someone quote, "All things work together for good?" Hey, that begins with the assurance that we KNOW that all things work together for good, but to anyone? To everyone? Finish the sentence. Things work for good to the ones who love God, to the ones who are called according to His purpose.

Maybe a more appropriate title for this devotional would be "Verse Fragments" instead of "Sentence Fragments." But you get the idea, I'm sure.

Let's be careful to quote the Word of God accurately, not just the portions we like. In other words, the Truth, the WHOLE Truth, and nothing but the Truth!

Preacher's Kid