Still is a flexible helping word. 

It makes negatives moreso:
* “Are you still smoking?”
* “Are you still here?”
* “Are you still alive?”

It accents positives:
* “Are you still losing weight?”
* “Are you still married to that supermodel?”
* Are you still going to South Africa this fall?”

Among my favorite uses of the word is found in an eponymous song from Lionel Richie. (Eponymous is another favorite word. I remember looking it up and thinking of ways to work it into a conversation. This may well be my second attempt ever. It is not nearly as flexible as still.)

Look back to Psalm 73:23: “Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand.”

If you belong to Jesus, this is a verse for you to commit to memory. It provides hope and confidence, comfort and assurance, relief and realization, wonder and delight. What other thoughts and prayers does it initiate? 

At the beginning of the day, “I still belong to you.”

In the big middle of my daily messes, “I still belong to you.”

At the end of the day as I lie down to rest, “I still belong to you.”

When God holds you safely in his grip of grace (Thank you, Max Lucado), you can always and everywhere proclaim with confidence, “I still belong to you.”

Maybe more Famous Last Words should include still. Ponder that thought. It might come in handy someday. Until then, let’s live this day in the brilliance of moments illuminated by heaven on earth and the realization that we still belong to our Father in heaven.

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I will live in the increasing appreciation of a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus.

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Our Father, I still belong to you. You have not, and will not, give me up. You do not let go. You do not cast me aside. Hold my hand. Guide me with your counsel. Lead me to a glorious destiny. Amen.