Life as I already know it

I love reading cookbooks.  It’s not uncommon for me to receive cookbooks for my birthday or for Christmas or any other gift-giving event.  I love reading the recipes themselves, looking at the pictures of delectable food, and imagining what meal I might put together from the recipes given. 

As much as I love these cookbooks and as often as I read them, I rarely cook a new recipe.  When the time comes for me to make dinner, or bake a treat, I usually go right back to the good old faithful recipes that are tried and true.  I like that I already know how to make that certain recipe (sometimes I don’t even need the recipe because it has been made so many times).  I like that I already know I will enjoy what’s being made.  I like that there are no questions as to my success in making this recipe. 

I love finding new verses.  You know, those verses we run across in our devotionals that seem so wonderful we wonder why we haven’t memorized them before.  These are the verses I write down in my journal, send to friend, or maybe even go so far as to post as my facebook status. 

Similar to my fetish with cookbooks, these verses often go unapplied to my life.  I read them, love them, and write them down… but then fail to make any changes to the way I live my daily life.  Or even worse, I forget the verse altogether.  Maybe I’m afraid those changes will be harder to make than I initially thought.  Maybe I worry about what other people will think if I start acting differently.  Or maybe I just prefer life as I already know it, like I prefer those classic Hammack family recipes. 

The great thing about the Bible is that it is all true, it is all the Word of God, and it is all beneficial to our lives.  Unlike recipes, we don’t have to worry about a disastrous result.  Chances are, if you put into action what you read in the Bible, only good things will come of it.  So don’t just read it, do it.  

“These commandments that I give to you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

God doesn’t desire for us to hear his truth and then continue on with life as “usual.”  He lists what he wants us to do with those words of wisdom: put them on our hearts, instill those truths in our children, talk about them wherever we go, keep them bound to us as symbols and reminders, make our house a reminder of those commands. 

Next time you read a verse that means something special to you or that feel God is impressing on your own heart, see how you can apply it.  Who can you share it with?  Who can you talk about it with?  How can you put reminders in your life about that verse, that piece of wisdom?  Even if it’s just a sticky note in your car, or on your door.  Even if it’s just an email to a friend, talking about what God taught you today.  Even if it’s just an action sometime during the day that reflects what you want to take away from that verse.  Do something.

“My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.  Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.”  (Proverbs 3:1-3)