James came home from Alabama last night and boy was I happy to see him! Today we had breakfast and did our devotions and then he took me Kayaking!!! For 5-ish miles down a beautiful river the Pocahontas song, "Just around the river bend!!", was stuck in my head. We had a great time but we're definitely worn out now from all of the paddling. Both of us flipped only once on a rapid. i almost lost our camera but realized it was floating away and caught it. Anyway, we're back home safe and tired.
So we're doing this verse-a-thon to help raise money for our youth group. We're making a list of 50-ish verses and people in the town or church will offer to give however much money for each verse the students learn. I have the job of making the list of verses. I automatically went to the book "A Call To Die" by David Nasser for some verses to memorize. This book is fantastic and he uses a lot of great verses. As I was on my 10th verse I came upon one of his chapters called "Know the Word". Years ago when I was going through this devotion I highlighted some things and this is one of them:
"Can you walk with God and not know His word? that's a good question. Many people believe that God will somehow give them his treasure of wisdom and insight by osmosis. It doesn't happen like that. We have to mine for it, and the mine shaft goes through the pages of the Scriptures.
We Christians, including many who have been believers for several years, are clueless about the truth in the Bible. We can't find Psalms or Matthew, and we think Ruth and Timothy are in a new sit-com. We can't even quote a Bible verse for each year we've been believers. We know the theme songs of television shows and movies and a zillion songs on the radio, but we are biblically illiterate." -David Nasser
This hit me hard and I had to stop everything I was doing and really let it sink in. Here I am coming up with a list of verses for these students to memorize so that they can, not only raise money for camps, but so they can also KNOW the word of God, when I couldn't say from memory, at the most, ten verses from the Bible to save my life. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you and it didn't until I really thought about it. I say I put my faith in God and I follow him but how can I ever know Him if I never open the Word He has given to me? People are in other countries dying for believing in Christ and I bet $100 that they have been hiding the Bible in random places so that, at times when they are alone, they can go and read it because they can't get enough of His truth. That's pretty challenging as an American Christian who can walk around with a cross on my neck, a fish on my car, a W.W.J.D. bracelet and Christian music blaring from my car.
I like what Bethany, Glass Jar Photography, said in a comment to my last blog: "our preacher once said if you ever get accused of being a christian may there be enough evidence to prove it" That's kinda what I'm talking about. Honestly, I'm not sure how much evidence I could give. I mean, I have a zillion Bibles laying around my house and i listen to Christian music but to say I actually know, in my heart, the Word, negative. I don't know why. I listen to music over and over and learn it, I actually hate listening to a song if I haven't memorized it yet. I watch some movies so much I know the songs when they play and the lines before they even say them. But why, when it comes to the God I put "all" my faith in, have I not "written His Word in my heart" (I would tell you what verse that is but I have no idea). My point exactly.
I think this blog is simply a challenge for anyone and everyone who give themselves the title "Christians" to really evaluate what they're showing the world. What evidence do you have to show for the Creator of this world, the Savior of your lives? I think I have been challenged to actually do this verse-a-thon myself. I want to memorize scripture and write it on my heart. I want to be able to talk to people about Christ and his word and not even have to have a Bible there because it's in my head. I really believe that, in order to KNOW God and his will and all that, we have to KNOW his word.
Being challenged to KNOW,
Devan Draper
Preach on, Sister!! You sound just like your Daddy! :) I am convicted....a true assessment of something that I constantly struggle with..and yet I say that I don't have time. But I have time to be here looking at your blog..:) I need for the Lord to make me hungry for His word!
ReplyDeleteDevan, thanks so much for sharing your blog with everyone! I think what you are doing is such a great idea, especially for encouraging other's in their own daily struggles. I have to agree w/ you, I personally need more of one on one time w/ the Lord....I know there is time for me to do it, I just need to manage my time better....with two kids right now and w/ me homeschooling, spending time in the Word everyday and praying just seems like a daunting task. Although, I know that the Lord would not want me to look at it that way!! Please keep me in your prayer's, I struggle w/ this daily. I do have to say though, when I do find the time to spend w/ the Lord what a special time it is just to pray and lay everything at His feet and just taking Him at His Word....there is so much wonderful truth in His Word that we need to apply to our life's...I just need to let it all soak in if you know what I mean!!!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to talking w/ you again!!!
well once again devan you amaze me....
ReplyDeletei am learning so much from you and learning how much your desire to grow in christ...you are a blessing....
now with that book by david nassuer "call to die", i just thought of that book the other day, remember when you guys did that and then i decided me and another actually at my work at the time decided to do the book and give up something for those 30 days...you girls gave up like cell phones, tv, myspace, radio, etc...things like that and mine was i gave up my obsession of magazines and all the new once i would get you and lauren would hide them so i could not read them....
well needless to say i failed miserably i rather instead of reading gods word i rather looked at fashion magazines ....
reading things has always not been such a hobbie of mine but when it comes to knowing scripture or reading the bible that really should not be looked as a hobbie (not saying it is a bad one), however we should desire to read gods word, to soak it up, to thirst and hunger for it ....i do have more time on my hands these days ...unlike kimberly..:)
but my point is where is our heart, what does it desire, it all goes back to feeding on our emotions and our wants ..not what god calls for us to do ..we would rather watch tv, listen to radio, talk on phone, be on computer, shopping, going out to eat, traveling just things that our wants ...but i real NEED SHOULD BE CHRIST FOCUSED to put him before everything and everyone....
i struggle ...no i can not say i even struggle..struggle is something you try to do and something gets in your way and you struggle to get to it or do it...but when you just dont even try to do it then you can not say it is a struggle....
you have opened my eyes to the failures of me being a daughter of christ not that i think you did that intentionally to point a finger but to bring that to my attention to our attention to listen and do what god will have you do with this blog....so for that i say thank you....keep it coming...