W
hen I was young, computers took up entire rooms, and cell phones were part of a weighty kit— the average person certainly didn’t own them. The word “facebook” would’ve evoked a wry smile—at the least—for how silly those two words really do sound together. “Twitter” was actually an old-fashioned word, and of course had nothing to do with human beings communicating under severe restrictions.
Me, front, center, ready for church camp, 1983
But, that was then.
And then, in my personal study times as a youth, without ever a distraction asserting itself via a beep, chime, metallic tune, or vibration, I often opened up several versions of the Bible available to me, in actual book bound form, and read the same Scripture or passage of Scriptures in each one until I felt I had taken in the meaning sufficiently—and by the way, individually, Scriptures have always been short and sweet:
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” KJV
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” NIV
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” NLT
“Throw all your worry on him, because he cares for you.” ISV
“Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” Amplified Bible
Same meaning, a varied arrangement of words, as you can see.
Not only are people geared toward “short and sweet” nowadays because of comments, tweets, and texts, as time marches on, many words and phrases are stripped of their original meaning.
Thing is, people who’ve been raised in a church, especially waaaaay back when, like I was, can understand terms like “die to the flesh,” and know that this phrase has nothing to do with physical death, but rather, a rejection of one’s low and selfish thoughts and urges. Today, someone might hear you say this and wrongly think you literally want them dead. Unless someone knows you very well, they will translate your words by their own cultural dictionary.
Here it is: Most people aren’t going to research the meaning of what you say if you don’t speak the way they do.
So, just as the versions of the Bible have become more contemporary in the ever-evolving English language, as has my favorite devotional, My Utmost For His Highest (I’ll personally stick with the classic version), sometimes change is just plain necessary.
This site contains devotionals I’ve written over the years, and I’ve made changes to some of them, in lines necessary, to make them a bit more explanatory. If there are more than a few notable changes, I include a link to the “Classic version”—the original way I wrote the same devotional—for example’s sake.
Cami Tapley