Siyete?
We often get the question, “What does siyete mean?”

When my wife and I decided that we were going to build a website we wanted the name of our website to have meaning and purpose, because it is one of the avenues we can express ourselves to those we know and love. So we started thinking about what would be unique and also have meaning and we came to the word, siyete.

The word, “siyete,” is from our native tongue Tagalog, which means; seven. However, to us, the word means much more! In the Hebrew language found in the Bible, the word seven comes from the root word (shevah), which means to be full or satisfied. We all strive in life to hit a point of satisfaction and fullness. In fact, the pursuit of this satisfaction is so consuming it drives us until we have found it whether in human love, a career, wealth, affluence, power, or even religion. But, for my wife and I, it only came after the Holy Spirit sought us out and we understood and received God’s love and forgiveness for us in Christ.

This quote by, Os Guinness, encapsulates our sentiment best when he says, “Our human desire can go wrong in two ways: when we stop desiring anything outside ourselves and fall for the pathetic illusion that we are sufficient in ourselves, or when we desire such things as fame, riches, beauty, wisdom, and human love that are as finite as we are and thus unworthy of our absolute devotion. The way of agape insists that, because true satisfaction and real rest can only be found in the highest and most lasting good, all seeking short of the purist of God brings only restlessness.”

But, in reality we have both been humbled because it has never been about what we have done for there is no merit we can obtain from God, but rather is has been about the Holy Spirit perfect love to see us out because it is in “love’s nature…to love regardless of the worthiness of the one loved. As the Lord says, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” – Ezekiel 11:19-20

To Him be all honor, glory and praise!