When you think you know it all….
Recently I purchased a new face cleaning gizmo from the cosmetic counter at our local department store.
I have one that runs on batteries; but since I already feel I have contributed several acres of landfill to these toxic marvels of modern society, my ears perked up as the consultant gave her sales pitch to the lady in front of me about how this one runs from a charger.
Sold.
She gave me a brisk run down on how easy it was, blah, blah, blah.
So I brought it home, plugged it in to start charging and stuck the directions in the drawer.
Didn’t need them, you know, because I ….
A. already HAVE a face cleaning thingy and…
B. she had given me an overview so …done and done
That night I went to use it and shortly into my cleaning foray, the thing shut off.
Hmmmmm….I thought maybe I had somehow hit the power button so I turned it on again and it ran a bit but then…off.
I pulled out the instructions and scanned them quickly and sure enough, it said you need to charge a full 24 hours before use.
Ah…details…
I plugged it back in and fulfilled the charging requirement.
Fully charged now, I put the cleanser on and revved the motor on my new gadget.
It worked great …. for a little bit and then it shut off.
My mind immediately jumped to gathering all the boxes and innards and planning when I was going to take this back to the store and get one that worked, but I thought I would also look at the directions one more time for troubleshooting tips.
And as I read the full directions, I found out that it … gulp…blush….automatically shuts off after 30 seconds to eliminate overuse on the skin.
Oh.
I see a correlation here with how we approach God’s Word.
(Tell me you didn’t see this coming…)
We THINK we know what God’s Word says.
The more familiar a passage of Scripture is, the more likely we are to tune out any teachings on it…
yeah, yeah…I know that one…big whale swallows runaway prophet…Ninevah…yawn…
David and the sling shot…giant falls to the ground…got it….
ok..Prodigal Son….wandered and squandered and came home…fatted calf – check, best robe – check, jealous brother – check….
or we skip over the lists of names or the laws because…
Really???
What does a bunch of people traipsing across dry river beds have to do with ME and MY life?
And we go on trying to fix ourselves or others…
solve our problems or their’s.
Without reading….
really reading…
the Directions.
So we need to get into the Word of God ourselves AND we need to study the Word of God in community….learning from others and sharing what we have learned.
Starting September 10/11: our church, along with at least 17 other congregations in the area, will begin a series called “Finding Your Way Back to God”.
While it is based on the Prodigal Son parable of Luke 15, it isn’t just about the one big return after the one big mess up…
it’s about some key patterns that ALL believers meander through in the course of their faith journey.
I am excited about the opportunity to participate in the teachings gleaned by the authors of this material…both in our corporate worship AND in our small group settings.
You can join us for the study on line at http://firstdecatur.org/sermons or check out the website for the series at http://yourwayback.church.
Whatever you do with what we are doing at FCC, don’t miss out on studying God’s Word right where you are.
Read it…study it…apply it…on your own and with others.
It’s really the map for us as we…..
Journey Onward <3