“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.” (Matthew 7:24-25 NLT)
Monday night I begin assembling the first of two crossbar stools after dinner. We ate late that day, around 6:00 p.m. So, I would say that I started my task close to 6:40 P.m. By 9:45 p.m. I was still working on the first stool.
My wife came in my construction zone (the living room), and she sees me struggling and asks, “Did you read the instructions?” I said that I had glanced at them and figured it could not be that complicated. I even tried to justify the demonstration of my mechanical ability by blaming the manufacturer’s quality control department, convinced that there was a defect on their end. When 9:45 p.m. came I decided to go to bed. My wife had gone to sleep, but I’m sure she was saying in her head, “He didn’t check the instructions.” Perhaps not, but in retrospect, I can imagine that thought entering her mind.
Tuesday morning, after breakfast, I went back to work on the stools. I was determined as I started declaring to myself, “Look you are as smart as the people that designed it.” I even got biblical and said, “I can do all things through Christ.” However, my continued difficulty drove me to finally do as my spouse was suggesting kindly and without any undue pressure. Yes, finally, I read the instructions. This description may not make sense, but what I learned was the two bars with the number “2” on them had to be diagonally across from the bars labeled with the number “3.” You can do the math when it comes to how much time I spent on the assembly task Monday night, if you think it’s necessary. But let me save you some time this morning, by simply saying in a straightforward way, “It was a long time…too long!”
After reading the instructions and following them, something that I should have done initially instead of thinking I did not need the written directions to have a “lifetime of satisfaction” with my products, get this now, it only took me fifteen, yes 15 minutes to assemble the second stool.
I learned my lesson. And I will be the first one to tell you, if you ever visit my house, before you set on a chair, a stool, a bench, or before you let your child ride a big wheel for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, ask my spouse, “Did Mark assemble it?” That’s a lesson for you, but there is a greater lesson. Here it is, my friend! If you want to be like the wise man in the scriptures above, make sure to get in the word and build your life according to the Lord’s teachings and instructions for living. Question: The last time you were trying to put something together, as it relates to life and not little projects like my stools, did you read the directions? I just sounded like my wife, right? Smile! Be blessed!
“The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the Lord are right,
bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living.
Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.” (Psalm 19:7-11 NLT)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King