what i learned

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Our pastor challenged us last Sunday to observe a week of consecration. This was to help us get our new year off on a spiritually focused start, and to get us in a frame of mind to hear from God for what might be ahead for us in 2005. As part of that, he suggested we cut back on some activity that captures our attention and eats up our time.

I chose to cut back on my internet activities. I took a break from participating in my poetry forum, and didn’t read others’ blogs or write in my own. It was, frankly, a lot like being on holiday, and yet not. Here are some things I learned.

1. It’s good to take a break from things that are a major part of one’s routine. This week gave me space to step back and re-evaluate what I was doing. It forced me to look at my priorities and review how I was spending my time.

2. I was once again impressed with what an amazing book the Bible is. I began the week by looking up the word "consecrate" and its derivatives in a concordance. I wrote down a list of references to look up, and each morning in my devotional time I did a different study on consecration.

I didn’t get very far on my list. But in each study, I was amazed at how the Old Testament foreshadows the New. I began to see how each part of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament (I studied several of the chapters in Exodus where God gives Moses instructions for consecrating Aaron, his sons, their clothes, the temple furniture and worship accessories) has some counterpart in God’s plan of salvation and the Spirit-controlled life in the New. Again I conclude, God’s word can withstand my scrutiny. The more I dig into it, the more I find it layered with truth and meaning. It is consistent, reliable and intentional (by that I mean even the details in the O.T. sacrifice prescriptions, for example, are significant). God’s plan as revealed in the Bible is a testimony to His incredible mind.

3. I was reintroduced to one of my favorite writers, A. W. Tozer. I chose from our collection The Best of A. W. Tozer, a compilation put together by Warren Wiersbe. I found Tozer’s insights probing and relevant. I like his short, pointed essays. (He would have made a popular blogger!) Here is a Tozer daily devotional and a page of quotes.

4. I found, though, that taking time out like this doesn’t shelter me from nasty, real-life circumstances. On Wednesday morning, I was involved in a minor car accident - no one hurt, only the car. Bummer!

5. In all this, I didn’t get any blueprints. No "Thus Saith The Lord" pronouncements for the coming days, months, year. Instead I was impressed with the need to leave making sense of my life to God.

I was reminded of how many Bible characters were asked to just take the next step - without any idea of where the whole process would lead:

- The priests just had to take the next step, into the waters of the Jordan River (no assurances the water would stop flowing - Joshua 3:6-17)

- The Zarephath widow just had to make Elijah the next meal (not knowing the flour and oil would keep stretching to be enough for succeeding months - 1 Kings 17:7-16).

- Another widow just had to get her sons to gather the jugs, and then start pouring oil into them from the small pitcher in her hand (and who could have predicted that trickle would fill every container in sight - 2 Kings 4:1-7).

In each case, it was for these people, and is for me, a matter of simply doing the next thing. The words of direction I did get, were from Romans 8:9,14: "directs(ed)," "controls(ed)" and "led" - by the Holy Spirit (Amplified). In some ways I find this frustrating. In others it is freeing, for I am God’s responsibility.