Being from the south, I love to sop. Sop is another word for soak. My Mamaw Jo used to say “Sopping wet” instead of soaking wet. You can sop any type of juice with any type of bread. When I was a girl, I sopped Mamaw Myrtle’s homemade cornbread with juice from my pinto beans. My Papaw sopped every time he ate.

As I grew older, I began to sop more and more. And in doing so, my appreciation for sauces and dressing grew more and more. I love to sop up the dressing left in my husband’s salad bowl with garlic bread. Yum!

I don’t remember who it was now, but somebody told me it was rude to sop in front of others. With great sadness, I let many a plate get away from me with all kinds of various tasty juices still glistening on it. Then I thought, “Who cares?” As it says in James 4:14, we are but a mist. My sopping didn’t hurt anybody. As my mom would say, “Even if it hairlips every cow in Texas;” I was going to do it. In fact, I think it should be considered as a compliment to the chef or cook. I hope my cooking is so delicious that when you are finished, you not only sop, but turn the plate up and lick it!

But don’t worry. My plates go in the dishwasher.

To me sopping is when you actually get to savor the wonderful and unique taste of each sauce or dressing. And this is because of its base, which is the main ingredient. These bases can be anything, but they are usually things such as oil and vinegar, onions, garlic, tomatoes, mustard seeds, syrup and pesto to name a few.

As for stories, their bases are words. Any word. Every word. Many people take the power of words for granted and underestimate them. Make no mistake about it; God infused words with a tremendous power from the beginning of time.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 (KJV)

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (KJV)

In case you are not aware of this by now, there are no coincidences with the Lord. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the word “Word” was used in the Bible to describe Jesus.
Notice anything else? Word is singular and not plural. Yes, there is only one Jesus, but it also tells us a single word can be extremely powerful. Imagine the tremendous effect a short sentence can have on others. Let’s go further with this concept. We are literally walking around with an arsenal of words in our heads. If you are a believer, then you have a Holy arsenal.

Think about it. It only takes a few words to love and encourage somebody: I love you. Great Job. So glad to see you again. Let me tell you about Jesus. Jesus loves you.
Conversely, it only takes a few words to tear somebody down: Can’t you do anything right? What were you thinking? I don’t know a church that would have you.

Once spoken, our words are out there forever, so we need to take a second to think about them while they are in the safety of our minds. If they are not something Jesus would utter, than we shouldn’t either.

Appreciate the adventure of powerful words. I know I have had my fair share of them over the years.