Can You Thrive Spiritually on Just One Verse?

I’ve heard stories of Christians living under persecution having just a small fragment of scripture, perhaps a page or less, as their only Bible! This picture of a single page of the King James Version of the Bible reminds me of the reality that even a single page or a single verse is still the inspired word of God.

One Single Verse

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, (Titus 1:1 (ESV))

The first verse in Titus isn’t even a complete sentence but I want to illustrate with this one verse how rich God’s word is.

What it means

It starts with the word ‘Paul.’ Even if we don’t know who Paul is, we can see that God’s word is personal. He is concerned with individuals. Everyone is important to him.

A servant is how Paul describes himself. We may have trouble understanding what a servant is in modern western culture but a glimpse into the past is revealing. We see servants depicted in historical reality and in historical fiction in similar ways.

Servants do the bidding of their masters. They rarely or never question those instructions and orders. When there are no orders given, they stand silently by to hear what their master’s might have them do. They never ignore instructions but carry them out.

If we are like Paul, we are servants of God. That means we do his bidding. When we don’t know what to do for him, we wait silently by to hear what we do next. And we know that God has given us a wonderful list of tasks to complete for his glory and kingdom. They are described in other parts of his Word.

In doing God’s will, we trust him, knowing that he knows best. We don’t often question but diligently carry out his commands.

There’s more

An apostle is one who is sent out on a mission. Paul was an apostle. Are we? Some can still be described as apostles, though that task is a calling. That calling is given by Jesus Christ.

That name is above all names. Jesus was a man who was the Christ – the Anointed One. He was anointed by the Spirit of God as the Son of God in a holy mystery – actually, two holy mysteries. First, he was wholly man and wholly God – something that we cannot fully comprehend. Second, he is part of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is something we may never fully understand. Perhaps, in heaven it will be clear to us. Perhaps, not.

Paul was an apostle ‘for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth.’ He was and is there for us. We are receiving the truth by faith! We can be sure of what we believe because it is truth. And because it is knowledge, we know we can increase in it! Our knowledge grows because we can experience the truth!

This knowledge ‘accords with godliness.’ It is consistent with godliness. If we want to live godly lives, which by implication in these words is what we are called to live, then we can grow in that godliness by growing in the knowledge of the truth. This, then can be a calling on our lives – to grow.

Final Thoughts

Here in these few words, we have defined God’s call, his will for us, our mission to build our faith and grow in our obedience, knowledge and maturity. One verse with familiar words can mean so much.

The next time you open your Bible to read, catch every word and see what God is calling you to!