Learning the ABC's

Big A . . . little a. What begins with A?
Aunt Annie’s Alligator.
A . . . a . . . A.


Big B . . . little b. What begins with B?
Barber – baby – bubbles – and a bumblebee.


Anybody out there ever read Dr. Seuss’ ABC book? If you have, those lines are certainly familiar to you. May I confess that those silly lines (and most of the ones that represent the other 24 letters of the Dr. Seuss alphabet) have been permanently imprinted and flitting their way around in the pitiful recesses of my brain for more than 40 years? My oldest daughter loved that Dr. Seuss books as a child and we read the ABC book so many times that long before I ever read it to her younger siblings, she and I both had it memorized. To this day, just call out any letter of the alphabet and I can tell you what Dr. Seuss wrote about it (and so can my children and some of my GRANDchildren)!


Oh, the useless trivia we commit to memory! Wouldn’t it be far more beneficial to our spirits – the part of ourselves we should be the most conscious of nourishing with the input of useful and meaningful information – if we committed to memory A to Z truths from the Word of God? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone could call out any letter of the alphabet and it automatically triggered a name or attribute of God in our mind? I heard a friend tell this week that the way her elderly mother falls asleep every night is doing that very thing. How cool is that??


One morning this week, the Lord led my thinking in the direction of trying to list a name of God for every letter of the alphabet and I remembered a wonderful little devotional book I have. It’s called, Reflecting His Image – Discovering Your Worth in Christ from A to Z, by Liz Curtis Higgs. Liz is a gifted Christian writer and humorist who sees her defining role in life as an encourager. She says that the A to Z collection in this little devotional book are meant to be a confidence booster for our spiritual selves. For the days when we momentarily forget how powerful and sovereign our God is – and let’s be honest, my friends, we ALL have those days – Liz gives us a reminder from God’s Word as to who He is beginning with a capital letter. Trust me, nothing will lift you up or encourage you more than to spend some time each morning (or night) reminding yourself WHO your awesome Heavenly Father really is!


It’s overwhelming to ponder some of the many facets of Who God is and then realize that He is all that and he loves us too!! Tucked in between the capital letter names and attributes of God for all 26 letters of the alphabet in this little book are descriptive words from the Word that refer to us – telling us who we are IN Him. These are written with the corresponding lower case letter. Isn’t that a neat way to differentiate? There are words like beautiful, heir, known, overcomer, redeemed, useful – a to z, 26 in all. Even when we don’t feel worthy of such titles and have trouble fitting them to the image we have of ourselves, the Word assures us these descriptions were purchased by the blood of Christ on our behalf. WOW! What could be more encouraging than that?


Join me over the next few days as I read through this wonderful little book one more time. I’ll share with you some of the ways I find encouragement for my daily walk with Jesus from the things Liz has written and what God’s truth impresses on my heart. Perhaps you will be encouraged too. Leave a comment when you have time and let me know what God has said to you along the same lines. Like Liz, YOU are an encourager too, you know . . . just wait ‘til we get to the little "e"! If you don't know you are an encourager already, you will after that!