MORE THAN WORDS
I thought I’d share a story while it was still fresh in my mind. Last weekend Lyanne and I were sitting in a Starbucks in Seattle. Ly was talking with another teacher while I was working on some things for Sunday. Afterwards, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant, a thoroughly enjoyable morning/afternoon. But as we drove away, there pinned to the windshield under the wiper was a potential downer. Could it be an advertisement? I hoped so. Unfortunately, it was what I dreaded — a ticket. A ticket for something like a incorrect license plate display with the added information: current tabs not displayed. Now, I know I renewed those tabs last October. In fact, I was proud of the fact that I did it before the actual expiration date! But then, where were they? Did I put them on the front license plate by mistake? Nope.
A mad search through the glove compartment yielded only last year’s registration, which meant those pesky little tabs and registration slip were hiding somewhere. I looked under the seats (found an old coupon), but no tabs. And who knows where they might be at home among the mass of junk mail accumulating in our under-construction house. Did I actually get them? Was I fooling myself into believing I had actually renewed the tabs? I looked through the checkbook — aha — indeed, there it was, the carbon copy of the check to the DOL dated last October. I searched through the house, but to no avail. Where were they?
By now I had resigned myself to simply going down and paying for another set of tabs. Heading over to the licensing place down the street, I thought, “I should check my backpack that’s at church first.” So i postponed buying the new tabs, and headed to church. But before I looked through the backpack, i decided to look through my computer bag first. All sorts of old papers and miscellaneous stuff, and… my tabs. I was overjoyed!
Now what’s the point of this long story? It’s like this. I renewed my tabs a long time ago, but I never put them on the car. It was raining outside; it was cold. I’m sure I thought I would put them on when the conditions were better. I must have put the tabs in my bag, and forgot them ever since. What is ironic and disappointing is the fact that when my ticket was being written, I was just across the street, the tabs securely in my bag, but of absolutely no use there. So close, and yet so far! So it can be with the Scriptures. We can have them in our heads, but tucked away for a more convenient time to put into practice – when it’s not rainy or cold or inconvenient. If there’s something I’m learning from the Proverbs, it is that putting off the practice of God’s Word can have grave consequences. Like getting a ticket for not applying my tabs, a person will face grave consequences for not applying God’s Word.
So as you read through the proverbs, don’t forget the all important task of applying them to your life. They are after all, more than words.
