Shortest Verse 1.21.24
Recently at our Thursday Men’s Bible Study, Mike gave us an excerpt from a book called “Declare War” by Levi Lusko. The article challenged our thinking that the shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept” by using the original Greek words and counting each character. If ones does that, “Jesus wept” consists of 16 characters, in Greek, but there is another verse in the Bible that consists of only 14 Greek characters. Thus making it the shortest Bible verse. It’s found in 1 Thessalonians 5:26 and simply says:
“Rejoice Always.”
I absolutely love this discovery! After all, the exhortation to rejoice always is found throughout the Bible and a good mantra for each of us as Christ followers. Paul reaffirms this ideal later in that chapter by telling us that it’s actually God’s will for us to give thanks in all and every circumstance. So “rejoice always” should be the fruit of each of our lives.
Lusko explains that we shouldn’t let the size of this verse fool us. It’s a little verse but packs a punch. It’s both powerful and challenging. The fact that it’s God’s will doesn’t make it easy. It’s a struggle for us to rejoice in the midst of pain, confusion, and angst. But as we break out of the habit of negativity and discover the peace and hope we can have in an attitude of gratitude – it becomes easier, As make it a practice to rejoice, it frees us from control and conditional gratitude. Truly it helps us live out the promise of Romans 8:28 that God can take everything in our life and work it together for our good. Amen! Now that’s a reason to rejoice always.