more than just words on a page...

So often we say words or read words and rarely give any thought to what they really mean.  I feel this is far more common in the realm of "Christianese" than in our everyday language. 
Take for example the phrase "Jesus is Lord".  We say it frequently, we put it on our cars in the form of bumper stickers, we wear it on our lapel pins, and some even carve it in stone and put it in their yard.  But do we really know what it means? 

Lord (as defined by dictionary.com) is a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler; a person who exercises authority from property rights; an owner of land, houses, etc.; a person who is a leader or has great influence in a chosen profession: the great lords of banking.; a feudal superior; the proprietor of a manor.; a titled nobleman or peer; a person whose ordinary appellation contains by courtesy the title Lord or some higher title.

So is Jesus really Lord in your life?  Does he have authority, control, or power over you?  Do you say that he does, but when it comes time for him to actually exercise that control do you take it back and tell him "I can handle this"? 

At my church through the week we have been reading through Romans.  Last night I read Romans 6-7.  **Side note:  if you have never studied Romans I would suggest it...there is some amazing stuff in there that you miss if you aren't careful**  In the chapters it made mention of the word holy: 

"...so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness." (6:19)
"So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good." (7:12)

I was raised in church and if someone came up to me on the street and asked me to define holy, I don't know that I could.  So while reading, I decided to define it. 

Holy (as defined on dictionary.com) is specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated: holy ground.; dedicated or devoted to the service of god, the church, or religion; saintly; godly; pious; devout; having a spiritually pure quality; entitled to worship or veneration as or as if sacred; religious; inspiring fear, awe, or grave distress

I have discovered that you can't simply take words and assume that you know what they mean.  You also can't go around using terms and not have a clue what they mean.  It just doesn't make sense, especially since we have such a wide array of resources avaliable. 

Don't just see the words as words on a page, learn them, use them, love them!