Bring Out Your LEGO Set

All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. – 1Co 10:23

Mark 11:23, the oft-quoted verse on faith, has the act of speaking appearing FOUR times:  “For verily I SAY unto you, That whosoever shall SAY unto this mountain, Be removed, and be cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he SAID shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he SAID.

These four occurrences of “SAY” are actually two separate words in the Greek: LEGO and EPO. EPO relates closely to our English “speak” or “say”, but LEGO is much more interesting. It means to “lay” forth or relate your words in a systematic or orderly way, (as opposed to just random talk or yakking).

LEGO, in case the term sounds familiar to you, is also the name of the line of plastic construction toys that consists of colourful interlocking plastic bricks. Lego pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects; vehicles, buildings, working robots, etc. Anything created can then be taken apart again, and the pieces used to make other objects. (LEGO is also, incidentally, the current “World's most powerful brand”).

Now, although the Greek word LEGO has no relation to the toy LEGO (the latter's name is Danish for “play well”), it’s hard to ignore the appositeness of that word to our faith life. Just as the LEGO toy consists of little building blocks which are fitted together to make structures, our LEGO words – the systematically arranged or declared words we speak in our life – determine the edifices we’ll end up with in life.

This goes beyond not lying, cussing or gossiping; Paul says in 1Co 10:23, “All things are lawful for me, but all things do not EDIFY”. The last word there (from which we get “Edifice”) in the Greek means “to BUILD UP”. Even a child playing with a LEGO set quickly learns that there’s a proper way to attach the bricks if anything constructive is to be achieved. Similarly, we must learn to be conscious and deliberate with our words – LEGOing, as opposed to yakking – because the things we say regularly have spiritual significance.

We each have a LEGO set handed over to us, our mouths; and what we make of it is left to us. Some would end up with a heap of coloured plastic blocks lying at their feet at the end of the day; while others would have a beautiful edifice of a life – constructed out of the deliberate, love-based and faith-filled words that they speak around them every day.

SELAH.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.
AMEN.
GREG ELKAN