My focus word for the year is Flourish.
.. to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favourable environment.
Dictionary.com
Last year, I chose Grace and turned it into the phrase Bloom in Grace. So, clearly, this idea of growing has been my mindset for a while.
The verse I was led to is in Psalms 92, towards the end, which talks about the righteous people of God flourishing.
The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Psalms 92:12-15
I took to my journaling bible to document this because I like having something to refer to, as a guide, as I make my way through the year. I used a devotional kit by Creative Retreat Kits (referral link) called Flourish. This kit was released in May of last year so it’s sold out now but the digital version is still available here.
The Flourish devotional is based on the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. The parable talks about the seed (God’s word) falling on different soils (heart conditions). The seed that falls on good soil thrives and produces fruit. After meditating on this a bit, I’d made an entry documenting the importance of truly hearing God’s word but, more importantly, understanding it.
So, these passages form the basis of what Flourishing means to me this year. It means being a student of the word, reading it, understanding it, and being changed by it – growing in righteousness. And the purpose of all this flourishing? Psalms 92 says, in the last verse, that it is for His glory.
Now, I have my focus word and a fair understanding of what it means. But, like I did in previous years, I wanted to turn it into a phrase because that gives the word more direction. Like I did last year, I completed DaySpring’s Word of the Year quiz to see what it would choose, just out of curiosity.
It gave me Believe – trusting in and believing God’s promises. That makes sense to me because flourishing is tied to believing God’s word. And to believe, I need to know it and understand it. What that looks like practically, in terms of bible study, I don’t know yet but I’m certain that He’ll lead me to it.
Did you pick a focus word for the year?
