They’re the only two times this particular Greek word is found in the Bible, yet I think it applies to all of Scriptures. It’s Peter’s specific reason for writing his letters but I’d make the case that, when all is said and done, it’s the reason we all should read all of the Bible. To stir it up!

I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, . . . This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, . . .

(2Peter 1:13, 3:1 ESV)

Came across the phrase this morning and remembered that it caught my attention the first time I read it a few days ago. Peter wrote his letters to these believers to stir them up by way of reminder.

A number of translations render the original word as stir up. Others use wake up or stimulate. And Peterson in The Message, never satisfied to use just a few words when many will do, tries to capture the meaning here with “keeping you alert” and holding “your minds in a state of undistracted attention.”

More than just wake up, the original has the sense of arousing fully. Apparently the word can be used in the context of agitating the waves of the sea to rise. The idea of taking something that was inert and rendering it active. Stirring it up, in other words.

And while Peter specifically says he wrote his letters to stir up his readers, isn’t that the purpose of all of Scripture? Shouldn’t that be our aim when we open the pages of holy writ? To be aroused to action by way of remembrance? I’m thinkin’ . . .

My morning readings need to be more than just a check-the-box exercise, they need to exercise me. Exercise my mind, stir my soul, and awaken my spirit. Marking my bible isn’t the end game, having my bible mark me is what I should be seeking. I’m reading not to just accumulate more facts and data but to arouse increased faith and Spirit-enabled determination to serve the kingdom. I read not as a habit that starts my day off right, but I read to be reminded, to be put under remembrance, which then primes the pump for living water to flow from me. You get the idea.

I’m reading the second letter Peter has written so that I would be stirred up by way of reminder. It should be why I read all of Scripture, inspired and preserved by the Spirit of God to renew my mind, transform my life, and stimulate me to service.

Stirred up by God’s grace. Stirred up for God’s glory.

Short thought this morning as my time’s divided between being stirred up and playing with grandkids you have awaken way too early. Quarantine’s over, I’m free to move about the province. On the road the next few days. Gonna keep stirring it up . . . not sure how much time I’ll find to keep writing it down.