Amen

Revelation 22:20

“He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

Here is the definition of Amen:  “It is spoken to express solemn ratification or agreement. It means “it is so” or “so it be.” Amen is derived from the Hebrew āmēn, which means “certainty,” “truth,” and “verily.” In English, the word has two primary pronunciations: ah-men or ay-men.”

As infants we learn to speak by copying our parents or the ones we are around.  When we get good at this, we learn how to speak in words and then in sentences.  I can remember, as a kid, saying cuss words out loud and thinking nothing of it until my mother would step in and teach me what I was really saying. 

So often we just repeat others even as adults.  Funny jokes or phrases that we heard and repeat them to our friends.  In church you hear everyone say “Amen” at the end of prayers or even in the middle of someone talking.  Above, is the definition of the word “amen.”  This word is used, by some accounts, as many as 72 times in the Bible.  It comes from a Hebrew word that means “it is so” or “so it be.”  Saying this word means you agree with or identify with what has just been said. 

As God’s creation, we are gifted with intellect and intelligence that is like God (see Genesis 1:26).  As adults, we should not just repeat anything we hear but understand what it means before repeating it.  The next time you pray or are involved in a prayer by someone else, don’t say amen unless you mean it.  Saying amen is like you saying “I agree with what had just been said so let it be!” 

We have a Bible promises book that has verses from the Bible that deal with many different things we might be going through.  Get a copy of this book and place it in the front room, read some of it and at the end of every verse say amen if you agree with it.  Words are powerful tools and they have been shaping our society for centuries.  Today let us practice our “amen” and mean it.