To Become

Here again is the Bible text from which we have been receiving thus far.

Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

Our attention is now turned to the last phrase in this text which simply says this. And Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor. Perhaps, like me, your ears perked up straight, your mind grew wings and your heart began to excite itself, with the thought that you were going to be taken on a Judas path. No! Our receiving on this after prayer mission of Jesus is not on the man Judas. We are being taken through an intricately and mesmerizingly grand path of the word, became.  Judas also became a traitor.

A visual move on the word became, shows up two separate words, be and come. The word, be, is who or what you are. As little children at school, I remember our Language Arts Teacher, drilling in our pliable minds, the difference or irregularity of the verb, To Be, as compared with regular doing or action words. Here’s an English Lesson for you, but more than an English Lesson. For all who are being truly led by the Holy Spirit, may we be enabled to see, hear, know, and receive, as our faith allows.

Conjugate the verb, To Pray,

Singular - I pray: You pray: He, She or It prays.

Plural - We pray: You pray: They pray.

Conjugate the verb, To Be,

Singular - I am: You are: He, She or It is.

Plural - We are: You are: They are.

To pray is to know prayer everywhere.

To be is to know God’s Trinity.

To come signifies journey, travel, movement, change. Be, is who you are. Become is the change made in you.

Now we are being led to investigate most carefully, some well-known Scripture verses where we have, no doubt, in the past, rushed through the embodiment of the word, became, without any serious or great attention to it. For now, we shall receive a few of those Scripture passages, and reason through them, as later on, we shall delve more deeply into them.  

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1: 14a. Jesus is the Living Word, for, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1: 1. God was not flesh, but God became flesh and lived among us. What have those words just preached to you?

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2: 7. When God formed man from the dust of the earth, man was a form, a dead, lifeless being, like a stationary, lifeless sculptor or statue. Man was not a living being, but man received God’s breath and became a living being.  What have those words just prophesied to you?

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name. Jeremiah 15: 16 ESV. When God’s words were found, they brought no change to the heart of this servant of God. God’s words were not a joy and the delight of Jeremiah’s heart, they became his joy and the desire of his heart when he ate them. What have those words just proclaimed to you?

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2: 8. Now isn’t this a strange, yet true thing? The One who is the embodiment of obedience, the One who is obedience, became obedient, when He became flesh and lived with us. What have those words just promised to you?

O, the incalculable and irresistible Living Word of God!

After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 1 Samuel 18: 1 NIV. Jonathan and David were as brothers, for Jonathan is King Saul’s son and the king had taken young David to live with them in the palace. Surely, they must have lived as siblings with brotherly love. Saul took him that day and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. 1 Samuel 18: 2. Note how that relationship changed into one of a covenant relationship, in spirit. Jonathan’s love at first was brotherly love, but it changed and became one in spirit. What have those words just produced to you?

Tomorrow, we delve deeper.