”Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you.” (Deuteronomy 11:18b The Message Bible)
I really have to get with the times. I went into several retail stores, including a couple big box stores that specialized in office-related supplies, looking for a guestbook. My search was to no avail. I never found one. I wasted valuable time. When I got home, I did what I should have done in the first place! I got with the times and ordered a perfect guest book online and got it the very next day.
Above I said, “I wasted valuable time.” Hmmm! That’s not exactly or entirely true. I brought a couple of other things on my shopping list, but here is the most worthwhile thing I got, cost me nothing, and it was invaluable.
I was looking at all the office supply items on the back wall located near the gift card, and pens and pencils aisles. I noticed some items that would be perfect for the desk that I work on. There was a unique grey desk mat, and a matching grey bag that had these words embossed on them, “Things to Do.” I stopped, stood, and stared at these office items for a while, contemplating, picturing how they would look on my desk. My decoration side turned on, and I focused on the items from a décor perspective. I ignored any internal prodding to look at these items and from a practical usage perspective. The Lord sent somebody by just in time to keep me from spending money that I had not planned to spend. You see, just as I had convinced myself to at least purchase the grey bag, a middle-aged woman, saw me pick up the bag and she said, “I just took one of those back.” I asked, “Why?” She informed me that she had had it a week, but she never found it valuable. Oh, she confessed that she wrote little reminder notes when she first got home, and put them in the bag. But she went on to confess that she never looked at the notes place in the bag. Her final words before she resumed her shopping, “Don’t buy it! There are ways to keep notes that will cost you nothing, and will probably be more practical.” With that being said, and my inner, decorative side prevailing, I still stood pondering about purchasing the bag, but that prism, the God-conscious prism took over. My thinking went off on a different tangent.
I thought about one faithful member who takes great sermon notes and actually looks on them for self-edification, and she even shares her notes with others. Bless her soul! Then, I thought of the days when I was a young student in elementary and high school. Back then, I took great notes but admittedly, often there were times that I never looked at them. In some cases, I could not even read my own writing. Then I flipped back to thinking about the sermon notes that some people take with the best intentions, but never look at them again. That’s not going to benefit them as much because they just sat untouched, enclosed in decorated journals, purchased to keep track of sermons and spiritual insights shared by the sent messenger of God. I hope one day these individuals will look at them and see how the message notes can benefit them. Oh well, why am I telling you this, for I know you are not in that note-taking, but never referring to them category! I know you sermon notes journal, does not just around until your house until the next time you go to church. But for those who this does apply, I lovingly challenge you to look back at your notes and review them quickly. Go back and decorate your heart with the words and points of emphasis that the Lord specifically sent to you. Start with last Sunday’s notes and then go back to some older notes you have taken. This will foster spiritual growth on your part, and you will decorate your heart. Look at the benefits! Anytime you grow spiritually (one benefit), your chances of impacting others merely by the “new you,” shaped beautifully by the sent messages of God are greatly increased (another benefit).
So don’t waste time decorating your desk for the sake of looks, decorate your heart for the sake of living right in the eyes of our Almighty God. Have a great Tuesday! Check your notes, if you literally have them or if you still have them in your memory bank. Be blessed!
“I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart, so I won’t sin myself bankrupt.” (Psalm 119:11 The Message Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King