Minister’s Forum-Sept. 1, 2011

I was walking through the mall recently while waiting for my wife to wind up her shopping trip, when suddenly one of those doorway specials caught my eye.

It was a book. A small book, but the price had been drastically reduced. The subtitle, “100 recipes for jams, jellies, pickles and preserves,” caused me to shell out five bucks of last month's skimpy Social Security check, and I took the book home with me.  

When I was a child, before we had a freezer, my mother’s main way of storing foods for the winter was canning in glass jars. She had the ability and motivation to can meat, potatoes, vegetables and fruits, including pickled peaches. And my new book had a recipe for this very delicacy.

I could hardly wait to get started, but my wife brought me back from dream-land with one long question: “Is this going to be like many – if not most – of the other books you have bought?”

Noticing my pained expression, she moved in for the kill, “Making glass beads, caning chair seats, carving duck decoys, macrame, homemade breads and dinner rolls, tying dry flies…”

I interrupted her by admitting that she was right. And she was right. Over the years, I have purchased quite a few instruction books, with great determination to become accomplished in some certain area. It seemed so simple at the time, but over time the glamour disappeared.

Yes, she was right. I have known how to do a multitude of things, but just never got around to doing them. I’ve watched 1,000 cooking shows, she reminded me, but I don’t do much cooking. My intentions are good, but other things seem more important.

But isn’t that the way it is with religions? Those who profess read their holy book, but never get around to practicing what it teaches. We Christians are no different. We have either read the book (the Bible), or we are reading it now. We know how, we are just not doing it.

Several places in the New Testament, God reminds us to keep his commandments, (John 14:15). Are we? I’ll admit it is difficult to know all of them, and it seems impossible to keep some of them. In another place He warns us against saying we have faith, but not doing anything with that faith (James 2:14-18).

Upon close examination of the Bible, we find that most of the instructions are written for believers.

The main purpose of the scriptures is to show us how to enter into a personal relationship with God through his only son Jesus Christ. It is after this spiritual birth that makes us part of God’s family that we can begin to understand what God expects of us individually.

What I’m trying to say is this: It is easy to read. It is easy to find information on how. The more difficult thing is putting into practice the instructions you have just learned.

If I never make a loaf of bread or a jar of jelly, my life won’t be affected very much. But if I fail to act on God’s instructions after discovering them, the results for me will be disastrous, not only in this life, but also in eternity.

So, “But be a doer of the Word, and not a reader only” (James 1:22 – my paraphrase).