How to do Just About Anything

Have you ever found yourself wanting or needing to do something but you had no earthly idea how to even attempt it? If your name was Mike you’d say it happens all the time. Apparently the good folks at Reader’s Digest took pity on me, and others like me, because they thoughtfully put out a book aptly named “How to do Just About Anything.”

It’s a hefty thing. Measuring in at 10″ x 8″ x 1″, and boasting 448 pages of very small print (even with good eyesight you’ll do a little squinting). Plus, there are plenty of detailed drawings to lead you through the more complicated steps of whichever task you’re struggling to complete. All in all, it really does try to live up to its grandiose title. I flipped to the “R” section and found out how to fix a radiator, play racquetball and even protect myself from a hostile rabbit takeover. And those are just the highlights from the first two pages. The fifty-seven contributing authors and illustrators should be very proud of their efforts. It’s a welcome addition to my library and I do recommend it. But whoever decided on the name for the book was just a bold-faced liar!

Granted it does tell you how to overcome more than 1,200 problems–or so the cover claims. But the really important ones. Huh-uh. Not a word. Toothache, they have some suggestions. Heartache, forget about it, you’re on your own–unless heart burn counts. It offers advice on finding a lost pet, but fails to even mention anything about lost people. Blood sucking ticks are covered, but soul sucking temptations are not. Dandruff yes, depression no. And the list goes on, and on, and on. Oh, I know, there are lots of other books out there on those things. That’s true, there are…Christian and otherwise. But let’s not forget there really is one book–the Book, that actually does tell you how to do anything–and how to do it well. And yet the Bible seems to be more and more overlooked these days, even as we struggle to make sense of our crazy lives and this even crazier world. Now why that would be, when for the first time in history it’s literally right at our finger tips, is a great mystery to me. Whatever screen you’re reading this blog on, if the Bible isn’t already installed on it, you’re still just a click or a tap or two away from having unlimited access to the Holy Word of God. If you’re like 97% of the rest of us, you have a cell phone within arms reach, so technically–pun intended, the Bible is too.

That hasn’t always been the case. For centuries people weren’t even allowed to own a Bible. Not that it would have done most of them any good if they did since it was written in Latin. Then along came a fellow named William Tyndale who thought everyone should have a Bible written in their own language. They burned him at the stake for having such a heretical idea, but I’m confident he died without regret, unashamed of his handling of God’s Word. I wish I could say the same.

I think this little scripture tends to get overlooked. I’ve rarely heard it preached or taught on, and even when it does get mentioned, the focus tends to be on being a good hard worker. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a true and needed message. But what does ‘rightly handling the word of truth’ mean? That is a very deep question that is as likely to draw a blank look as a confident answer. Still, there is an answer–and guess where we’ll find it? But first let’s take a quick detour.

The Bible. First off, it’s just something that someone–I’m not sure who, made up. Settle down, I’m talking about the word, not “The Word”. I don’t have a big issue with the “term” Bible, but you won’t find the word “Bible” in the Bible. At least not within the sixty-six books of God’s Holy Word that is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword. Originally the word Bible just meant books. God and the men His Holy Spirit inspired to write down those sixty-six books never called it that. “My Word”, The Word”, “The Holy Word of God”, “The Word of Truth”, “The Holy Scriptures”; that’s how He and they referred to…it? See how messed up our language can get? The Word is NOT an itHe’s a Him.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 ESV

When you pick up your “Bible” do you ever stop and think, ‘I’m holding onto Jesus right now?’ Probably not, but if we did, maybe we’d pick Him up a little more often, pay a little more attention to what He has to say, and ultimately walk a much straighter and brighter path. Now I realize that there are a lot of people out there who read their Bibles everyday. There must be because the Bible is the best selling book of all time, with over five billion copies in circulation. And that isn’t even taking all the digital versions into account. But while I don’t have any statistics to back me up, I’m also confident that it also holds another, record; the distinction of being the number one book that never gets finished. That’s troubling when you consider this…

All scripture. Not some, or even most, not just the New Testament, and certainly not just the easy to follow, comfy-cozy passages. Nope we’re supposed to read all of it. But that’s not all, when it comes to rightly handling the Word of Truth, reading is just the beginning.

Rightly Handling

Okay, let’s start with the most basic element here–and a confession. Rightly handling requires….handling. During the first twenty plus years that I called myself a Christian I tried to read the Bible exactly once…I think I gave it my all for at least fifteen minutes. And there were a few other times that I treated it like a Magic 8 ball. When faced with some particularly stressful trial I’d hunt down a Bible, flip it open and stab my finger down on a random verse. The goal/hope was that God might provide some keen new insight into what I should do. You can imagine how productive that proved to be. Well, except for this one time.

I used to be afraid of flying–that’s a lie. I was terrified of flying. Then the inevitable day came when I had to make a cross-country trip and driving wasn’t an option. In the midst of a pre-flight panic attack I grabbed a Bible, did my flip and stab routine and under my finger tip I found this, “…you will surely die.” If you’re laughing right now, trust me, at the time I wasn’t! I slammed that Bible shut and started pacing around the room. By the time I could almost breath normally again I’d convinced myself that it was just a weird, poorly timed coincidence. To prove that, I reached for the Bible again–lightning never strikes twice…right? You guessed it–the same exact verse was staring up at me. God has a wonderful sense of humor. I had no idea there was such a thing as rightly handling the Word of truth at that time, but that event led me to take my first stumbling steps down that path. I promised God that if He would spare me I would start living for Him. Unfortunately, with my limited understanding of what that might actually look like, I came up with the following brilliant plan; no more swearing…and I’d say a prayer before eating–out loud, and even if other people were watching! As pitiful of an attempt as that was, it wasn’t easy, and as I’d feared, my friends and family did look at me like I had an extra eye growing out of my head.

Now some of you are probably thinking, ‘Well, it’s a good start anyway.’ True, it was a start; good is debatable, especially for someone like me. I suffer from perceived self-competence. I’ve lived most of my life under the delusion that there is nothing I can’t do once I set my mind to it. I know I’m not alone in this either, it’s a fairly common malady, yet to this point I’ve found no cure for it. I will say that in certain situations it can come in quite handy. But in others–like following the Lord, it’s a recipe for disaster. Here are a pair of verses that people like me should be required to tattoo on the inside of their eyelids…

Unfortunately, like I said, I was scripturally illiterate back then. I didn’t even have a clue as to why people at sporting events were holding up signs with John 3:16 written on them. In my ignorance I did what a lot of Christians do. I assumed God would do things the same way I would do them–after all I was made in His image wasn’t I? Here are a couple of example areas–two of way too many, of just how far off track this line of reasoning took me.

By God’s mercy and grace all my children love and follow the Lord despite my worst efforts. And what’s more–praise God almighty, my grandchildren are being raised in full accordance with His Holy Word. Okay, next topic…

If you just skimmed over that verse, please go back and read it carefully, I need you to share my pain. First, make no mistake, this is a command…to every one of us. But let me ask you this…”When is the last time you admonished a brother or sister for not following the Lord as they should?” I mean teaching is hard enough. I may be writing this blog but I don’t feel any more qualified to teach anyone about God than anyone else. Admonishing…no way! And in truth, I’m not qualified. Neither are you, or for that matter any preacher or teacher that ever climbed up behind a pulpit. Yet we are commanded , each and everyone of us, to do it. How…? Go back and look at the first phrase of that scripture. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. The first step of Rightly handling the Word is to “let” it dwell in you richly. Once we remember that the Word isn’t just a bunch of dead letters printed on a page; that it is alive and active, that it will go out and accomplish whatever the Lord desires; if we remember that, things get a lot easier. Actually, our biggest job is not to hinder that from happening. We need to stop saying, “No” when God says, “Go”. But we also have to do our part to ensure the Word of Christ is able to dwell richly within us.

Meditate on the Word

Meditate on the Word day and night–not just on Sundays, or at a weekly Bible study. But we can’t do that if we don’t know it…and we can’t know it if we haven’t heard it or read it. And by-the-way, hearing it, even if you’re listening to the most gifted pastors and teachers, that will not equip you as fully and rightly as reading it for yourself. This is a debatable point, but here are the key reasons I say that. First…time. These days, our pastors are up against the clock. They know that at best they have an hour–at most, before they lose our attention and maybe even our future attendance. Under that level of time constraint there are some things–most things, that they can’t explain to the degree that we poor sinners need. Second, the only sure and true way to clarify the meaning of scripture is with other scriptures. This is such a critical aspect of our growing in true understanding of God’s Word. Without pulling the scriptures together we can find ourselves “verse picking”, latching onto a verse that catches our fancy and using it to justify our actions or position regardless of God’s deeper intent. Verse picking is just an advance form of “flip and stab” if you ask me, and I should know, I’ve excelled at both. But in case I haven’t convinced some of you yet, let’s take another look at the “admonishing” verse so I can show you exactly what I mean.

A quick breakdown tells us we are supposed to admonish each other, but…we need to do that with “all wisdom”. And the way we get that wisdom is by letting the Word of Christ dwell within us…richly. I don’t think we can achieve the richly part without bringing in other scriptures that explain how we are expected to admonish each other. I have seen a number of instances where well-meaning Christians have missed this step with disastrous results. Here are some of the key verses we absolutely have to keep in mind if we hope to get the “how” part of admonishing right, but there are many, many more.

I see the most critical “how” points like this. Even if I’m righteously right and the other person is sin-wallowing wrong, if I approach them without love, I’m just a horrible noise that will do no good to anyone. And I’m never there to tell them to “fix” themselves, I’m there to help them–I’m supposed to remove their speck, not them. But only after I’ve learned how to get rid of my own log so I know how to do it right for them. And lastly, remember who they really are–family. We are all the children of God. So, if during the writing of this blog, if I’ve come across as anything but loving, I have failed, hurting when help is what was intended and required. If that happened to any of you, I am sorry. My reason/excuse would be that I do not want to neglect any of my responsibilities for rightly handling the Word of Truth. But my hope and prayer are that, if nothing else, this post will be a gentle reminder for all of us that there really is a book that will teach us to do anything if we’ll just give it–Him the chance.

May the living Word dwell richly within you and yours,

Mike

Comments

6 responses to “How to do Just About Anything”

  1. Bill Williamson Avatar
    Bill Williamson

    Good to see your blogs back Mike. You create an interesting read and challenge me greatly. I appreciate that.

    1. Papa Mike Avatar

      Thanks Bill, it’s so nice to hear that. Laurie and I will be praying fervently for both of you as Maureen starts her treatments and beyond. You two have blessed my family more than words can express.

  2. Vonnie Avatar
    Vonnie

    It’s so good to have you back, Papa Mike! I’ve missed your blogs a lot, but totally understand the reasons for you not doing them. Praising God for Laurie’s victories….and for yours.You got me thinking about folks not reading their Bibles much, if at all. It seems to me that when something is withheld from us, we will work day and night to get it….and after we win it, we start taking it for granted…Prayer continue for you and yours.

    1. Papa Mike Avatar

      Thank you, it is very good to be posting again. And I completely agree with what you said about fighting hard to get something then sadly we usually take it for granted. Not much has changed since the Lord led the Israelites out of bondage has it?

  3. Karen Avatar
    Karen

    Love this. When I was at a really low point in my 20s just desperate, I
    cried out to God, who I hadn’t really talked to lately, and I’ll never forget
    how He answered me in that moment. He directed my attention to a corner of my
    room on a low shelf, a dusty Bible. He said in my spirit, “That’s your problem.”
    That’s all He said. I went over and
    picked it up, dusted it off and began reading, began reading daily and thus
    began a long road of growth that saved my life. “May the Word of Christ richly
    dwell in you…” Love it!

    1. Papa Mike Avatar

      What a great testimony, thank you for sharing it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *