RENEW YOUR MIND
Going Deep into Romans 12:1-2
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
- Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)
"Beseech"
Beseech! Suddenly I feel like I've been transported back to 1827 with a petticoat and an impossibly tight corset! To quote Nicholas Cage's character from the movie National Treasure, "People don't talk like that anymore."
Yeah, but maybe they should!
It seems that words originating before the 1900's tend to carry deeper, broader, and sometimes completely different meanings from similar words we more commonly use today.
To beseech means to ask (someone) urgently and fervently to do something, with synonyms such as to implore or entreat. A quick google search on the difference between beseech and beg reveals that beseech is a more formal and archaic word compared to "beg," implying an increased level of intensity and desperation in the request.
Let's make this plain; Paul is urgently, intensely, and fervently pleading with the reader, that whatever he is about to request is something that should not be dismissed! It is something pressing and of top priority; to the growing body of believers in Rome, this is vital.
Beseech.
Today, if you come across a word that takes you back a few generations in time, I beseech you (pun intended) to dig deeper; dig up the roots of the word; its origins; like we practiced back in 5th grade English classes, use it in a sentence. The archaic language of the past need not be so foreign to us today.