I told you last week that in all my preparation for the new year, I’d purchased a new devotional book. I managed to leave the front cover shut until January 1, but once the day arrived, I grabbed the book, a pen, and a leftover thank-you card to serve as my underlining ruler (canNOT mess up the book with crooked underlining) and settled in to learn.
Apparently the book has a weekly theme, and theme one is faith. I had to smile…I might have known God would want me to start there. Two years ago I did a year-long study on faith – reading through every verse in the Bible that mentions any variation of the word faith. Each verse is now highlighted in blue, pink, or green – and surrounded by boxes, squiggly lines and notes scribbled in the margin. I kind of felt like I had a head start on week one.
Until I started reading.
The day’s verse came straight from Hebrews 11. No surprise there, since it’s considered the faith chapter. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Despite all my careful coloring, box-drawing, and squiggly-line-making two years ago, I began to notice things in this verse I’d not seen before. (Perhaps a demonstration of how the Word of God is alive and active?)
First, I noticed a couple of pretty strong words: impossible and must. No faith? No pleasing God. Pretty simple. Want to demonstrate faith? Two things have to be done. Pretty simple again. And yet…not simple at all to put into practice. At least not for me. (Incidentally, the next day’s devotional was about developing the faith of a child, and I think kids probably have a great grasp on Hebrews 11:6. Most of their lives haven’t been muddied up enough yet to complicate their view of God.)
Then I took a look at the two things required for God-pleasing faith. First…believe that He exists. Well at least I have one thing accomplished! And then I stared at number two: believe He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Uh-oh. That part doesn’t come so easily for me. Suddenly I sensed my first assignment of 2009 – and I was only one day into the year!
It’s something I’m aware I won’t perfect overnight…or even overJanuary. It’s a process, and I’ll have to be willing to work my way through the journey.
And speaking of journey – the prayer at the bottom of the January 1 devotional included a reminder to be thankful for the “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) surrounding us. It made me think of all the people throughout my life who have come up alongside me, whether for just a moment or for a long stretch, to encourage me and provide an example of how to live. So many names came to mind, and I realized again how rich life is when friendships strengthen it.
The year has just begun and already my journal pages are full of things I know I need to work on…be aware of…live intensely. It’s one thing to think about all those things when each day is a vacation day. Once work resumes, the challenge will be to make time to work on the character while making time for chores and responsibilities. Such is the way of a new year.
But for you who have become part of the cloud of witnesses around me…know that I am thankful for you and the words of encouragement you continually give to me. And as I learn about believing God’s desire to reward His children…and many other facets of faith and life…I look forward to walking the journey alongside you.
4 hours ago
5 comments:
It looks like a great book! I just finished reading through the Psalms, and tonight I think I'll start on Proverbs. I could use some wisdom.
You reminded me of a story a guest preacher told at my church years ago. He said his first assignment in his first class at seminary was to take Acts 1:8 and write 10 separate "lessons" he gets from just that verse. When he turned that in at the next class, the next assignment was to find 10 more lessons in the same verse. The entire semester, the assignment was always the same: find 10 more. And every week, he managed to find more, deeper lessons from just that one verse.
God's Word has depth we can't imagine when we stay on the surface. Maybe I should forget Proverbs (or wait until after I finish it) and just work on Acts 1:8 for a while...
Skyepuppy - I had to get out the Bible to see what Acts 1:8 said. I knew I should know it...but I couldn't remember. I have no idea how I'd get 10 out of that...let alone over and over. That is incredible!!! Knowing me, I'll probably pick a verse and try that sometime. Maybe I should go for the longest verse in the Bible? :)
"canNOT mess up the book with crooked underlining"
LOL, oh my goodness Bekah, we are cast from the same die! I thought I was the only one with a stiff card used for underling.
Question; do use the same technique when using a highlighter and when writting on line-less paper? I do, of course.
Janice/Bekah,
I remember when I was a kid, my mom bought pads of letter-writing paper (about 6 x 9). If it was unlined, it always had one lined page that you tucked under the sheet you were writing on, so you could write straight and amaze you friends with your neatness.
Maybe you could use something like that...
Janice - Welcome, my kindred spirit! I actually don't use a ruler or card for highlighting or writing, but I cannot stand for there to be any white space between two rows of highlighting. I go back and color in the middle. :)
Skyepuppy - that is a good idea!! I might have to try that.
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