I’m probably the last person EVER to have heard of this, but I recently saw a post of a beautiful Bible verse meme on social media, and someone had commented underneath, “That’s my birthday verse!”.
“Birthday verse?” I thought, “What’s that?”. Well, it didn’t take too long to figure out that the numbers in the reference of the Bible verse corresponded to the numbers in the date of the commenter’s birthday.
Now if you’re a long timer around here, you know that I’m not too keen on “life verses” and having a “word for the year” because people tend to go too far with them. They build doctrine and theology around those concepts (which are found nowhere in Scripture), and things can go wonky fast.
And if you take this “birthday verse” thing seriously, the same thing can happen. It doesn’t define you. It doesn’t have any significance in your life or identity. It doesn’t mean anything.
But it’s kinda fun just to see what pops up, and if that’s all you’re in it for, it’s no more a harmful diversion than watching a funny YouTube video or playing some Wordle.
You can go old school and flip through your Bible, but I found it easier to go to Bible Gateway and click on the “Bible Book List” drop down. That way it’s easy to see – if, say, your birthday is in December – whether or not the book you’re looking at actually has twelve chapters. If it does, you can just click on chapter 12, and it’ll take you right to that chapter of the book you’re looking at:
My husband and I gave it a try with both of our birthdays. His birthdate yielded some pretty impactful verses. Mine, some pretty random verses. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable (Any March 16 babies out there?)… but some of them need a lot more context than others!😀
My birthday is April 27 (4/27). Some books don’t have four chapters, and of those that do, not all of those fourth chapters have 27 verses. But here are my “birthday verses” for the ones that do. Why not give it a try with your birthday!
4:27
Exodus: Then Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and encountered him at the mountain of God and kissed him.
I have a son whose middle name is Aaron, and a son-in-law whose first name is Aaron. Neither of them were born on April 27, and I’m pretty sure neither of them know anybody named Moses. I guess this one’s a bust.
Leviticus: ‘Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty,
…Eeek! A cliffhanger!
Numbers: All the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their loads and in all their service, shall be performed at the command of Aaron and his sons; and you shall assign to them as a responsibility all their loads.
There’s ol’ Aaron again. These Gershonites sound like pretty responsible, hard working dudes.
Deuteronomy: And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will remain few in number among the nations where Yahweh drives you.
See, this is where “These verses don’t have any significance in your life,” is a GOOD thing.
1 Kings: And these deputies sustained King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they left nothing lacking.
More responsible, hard working dudes.
2 Kings: Then she came to the man of God to the hill and took hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to push her away; but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for her soul is bitter within her; and Yahweh has hidden it from me and has not told me.”
This is from the story of the Shunamite woman. If you’ve never read it, you should! It is an amazing story that points us ahead to Christ.
1 Chronicles: Now Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, nor did all their family multiply like the sons of Judah.
Good to know… I guess?
Proverbs: Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.
Aha! Meaningfulness! What a great admonition to remember!
Jeremiah: For thus says Yahweh, “The whole land shall be a desolation, Yet I will not execute a complete destruction.
Again, thank you, Lord, for good hermeneutics that tells me this judgment has no application to my immediate life circumstances.
Daniel: Therefore, O king, may my advice seem good to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’
I wouldn’t mind saying this to a “king” or two…
Mark: and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know.
God has a sense of humor. He knows I have a black thumb.
Luke: And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
The story of Naaman is another fantastic Old Testament story you should read. You can find it in 2 Kings 5.
John: And at this point His disciples came, and they were marveling that He was speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?”
OK, this one touched my heart. Who am I that my Lord should come to me, make sure I heard the gospel, and, in His love and mercy, save me? Why would you speak with me, Lord? I am just a sinful woman. But even sinful women are precious to Jesus.
Acts: For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
This is in the middle of an incredible prayer raised by some of the first Christians. I included it in my Bible study, Sweet Hour of Prayer: Learning to Pray from the People of Scripture (lesson 10).
Galatians: For it is written, “Rejoice, barren woman who does not give birth; Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; For more numerous are the children of the desolate one Than of the one who has a husband.”
This is actually a quote of Isaiah 54:1. It is an allegory of the old and new covenants.
Ephesians: and do not give the devil an opportunity.
OK, maybe this IS my life verse! Or at least my ministry verse.😀
What about YOUR birthday verses?
Anything interesting, meaningful, or funny?
Share in the comments!
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