No Summer Vacation
Rise and Shine for Jesus! \O/
By Pam Iannello (my late mother)
A ministry of
New Beginnings Baptist Church @ www.nbbconline.com
With school
coming to a close, many parents and children are looking forward to a break
from the books - a break from reading; a break from testing; a break from
studying. Should the Christian ever look
for such a break from God's Book, the Holy Bible? Should we ever take a vacation and put an end
to studying the scriptures?
Proverbs 15:28a (KJV)
The heart of the righteous studieth to
answer...
Who does the Bible say studies? The righteous study from their heart,
with a willing attitude. What do they study? The Word of
God! Why do they study? To learn and to be ready to give an answer,
just like students need to be ready to give answers to what they have studied
in their schooling. When should
they study? Every day! No summer vacation... Incidentally, what were your study habits
like when you were in school, dear lady?
What type of student were you? One that was easily distracted? Did you
only study halfheartedly? What are your
study habits like now? Perhaps to this
day you are still preoccupied with other matters and struggle to keep your mind
on your work…
2 Tim. 2:15 (KJV)
Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Spiritually
speaking, as believers, you and I are in “school” and will be until the day we
leave this earth. Have you set any goals for being ready to give scriptural
answers to the questions either unsaved or unlearned folk might have? You
better! Sometimes we had to memorize our answers in school; remember those
days? Are we putting this method to use when it comes to the Bible? If God's Word tells us to be ready to
give an answer, then that means someone with an inquiry will eventually come
our way… What are you going to say then,
dear lady? Do you recall the times your
teachers would give you a "pop-quiz" – those questions you didn't
have a clue were coming? For me, it
usually resulted in a moment of panic; I was often weak in unexpected times of
testing. Likewise, we mustn’t be found
uneducated when it comes to sharing the things of God. Let's not fail any "pop-quiz"! Many
unforeseen opportunities are going to come and the Lord has informed us ahead
of time to be prepared...
1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
But sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts: and be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear.
Be ready always…
Ladies, that means ALL year long! Don't ever take a vacation from Bible study
or church attendance! Vacationers are
typically people who look forward to vacation time as a means of escape from
responsibility. Spiritually speaking, is that what you want for yourself? When we didn't faithfully study in school in
order to answer our tests correctly, we suffered loss, didn't we? We might have had to take a zero, even failed
a subject, or caused ourselves extra work and extra time having to go back and
review things over again. Maybe some of
you were even held back a grade. So too, apart from daily study of the
scriptures, we can cause the kingdom of God to suffer loss if we are not knowledgeable
with our answers. We might have to take
a zero, and lose a soul to hell for not being properly prepared! Yes, we can thwart our own advancement and
even suffer the loss of our own rewards by slacking in our studies. Ladies,
let's not be lazy about our spiritual homework, amen? Let's faithfully stay in
God's Book all year long so that we are ready when our Master calls upon
us! Study for a good report…
Matthew 25:21 (KJV)
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou
good and faithful servant: thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
I don't know
about you, but I want a passing grade! I
want to graduate into the joy of the Lord!
I want an A+ when the books are opened... What is recorded under your
name in the Lambs Book of Life? Are you
saved?? Are you serving?? Are you sold-out?? Or are you a flunkie? Don't ever be content
with passing by the skin of your teeth; get busy for God and study, study,
study so you can answer, answer, answer!
Psalm 45:1 (KJV)
My heart is inditing a good matter: I
speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen
of a ready writer.
In closing, here
is a hymn I thought reflected the right perspective toward a godly education:
A STUDENT'S
PRAYER
God the
all-wise, and Creator of the human intellect,
Guide our search
for truth and knowledge, all our thoughts and ways direct.
Help us build
the towers of learning that would make us wise, astute,
On the rock of
Holy Scripture: truth revealed and
absolute.
O how vast the
shores of learning - there are still uncharted seas,
And they call to
bold adventure those who turn from sloth and ease.
But we need Thy
hand to guide us in the studies we pursue,
And the presence
of Thy Spirit to illumine all we do.
May the things
we learn, so meager, never lift our hearts in pride
Till in foolish
self-reliance we would wander from Thy side.
Let them only
bind us closer, Lord to Thee, in whom we find,
Very
fountainhead of wisdom, light and life of all mankind.
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah
60:1&2
Copyright
2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2004
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