“I have thought much about your words and stored them in my heart so that they would hold me back from sin. Blessed Lord, teach me your rules. I have recited your laws and rejoiced in them more than in riches. I will meditate upon them and give them my full respect. I will delight in them and not forget them.” (Romans 1119:11-16 The Living Bible)
You are saying, “Did I ever use what?” “What is ‘it’?” Well, you name it. How about that clothing article you just had to have, but they did not have your size? You brought it anyway, saying to yourself, “It will fit one day.” Guess what? It is still in the closet! Do you remember this one? You were impressive, taking more notes than anyone in the company training session on a new process that would be introduced soon! You wrote so much that you had to proudly ask, showing off, for the trainer to give you more paper. Yet, when the new process was implemented, your volume of notes were nowhere to be found.
Maybe that didn’t happen in your case. So, think about “it” as it relates to when you went to buy the newest edition of a famous player’s endorsed sneakers. You were disappointed. The store did not have your size, only pairs that were a half-size too small or a half-size to big. Guess what? You purchased them anyway. When you got home and walked around the house a bit, you decided that they were too uncomfortable. So, they became unseen, costly souvenirs on the crowded floor of your closet, never ever seeing the light of day since you brought them home. Need more? Well, let me take you back to your high school or post-secondary education days. You looked to be the most attentive student in a certain class. You asked intriguing questions. You initiated discussions that your instructor applauded. Your notes, as with the individual who attended the company training session, were exemplary. Surely you would be ready to do good, or even better than good, on the upcoming test. There was one problem, you never looked at those notes in preparation. Consequently, you did not do better than good, not by a long shot. That’s almost enough examples to answer your questions, “Did I ever use what?” or “What is ‘it’?” You have more. I’m sure!
The key word in the next to last sentence of the paragraph above said “almost.” I have one more. I was at our church’s Education & Conference Center Tuesday, late afternoon, waiting for a contractor to show up. You know how they give you a window of time? Well believe it or not, this contractor was an hour early! When he finished doing his measurements, I had two hours to go until time to help with our tutoring ministry. I did not bring my book bag or Bible, so I went into one of the classrooms and picked up one of the Bibles that I had seen on the shelf on other occasions at the Center. I was looking for a specific text that would be used for Sunday’s sermon. After I find the text, I started turning the pages of the Bible that I was borrowing. Many pages had highlighted sections, and their were hand-written notes on many of them. I was attracted to some scribbled notes in the blank space to the left of Genesis 17:21-27. The title written by the notetaker said, “What Is God Like?” Underneath the title were these points: (1) God is personal. (2) God is powerful. (3) God is passionate. (4) God pays attention to our actions. Now, if you want to read these verses for validation of the points and/or edification, I will leave that up to you. But here is the “one more” example that will answer your questions, “Did I ever use what?” or “What is ‘it”?”
You see why I marveled at the notetaker’s notes, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Did he/she ever use these notes taken back in August of 2014, or were they never referred to again?” Yes, I know what you are thinking, “He/she could have hid the words in his/her heart.” However, on the other hand, could it be that the notes were like the clothing and the shoes that were never used? Were these like the notes that were diligently taken in the company seminar or in some classroom in an institution of learning? Oh, here’s one for you former star athletes or present day stars.
Was this Bible notetaker like the team member, not you of course, who got a play book to study, but never opened it? Thus, at game time, his/her contributions were few or none at all. Who knows about the Bible notetaker? I don’t! But my question is the same, “But did he/she ever use ‘it’,” the notes?”
You use your notes, don’t you? You follow the ways that the Psalmist list in the opening passage, don’t you? You are not only a hearer and a notetaker, but you are a doer too, right? I thought so! Have a great Thursday! Be blessed!
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22-25 New King James Version)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King