Spiritual Prescription DON’T GIVE UP
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:14.
Sam was a college student. He had worked for quite a while to save enough money to be able to go to school. At first he had been so excited about finally being able to start preparation for his lifework that his studies had come easily. But as the weeks went by, it seemed that the teachers piled on more and more work. He became involved in more social activities. He started cutting down on his sleep to keep up, and one evening a terrible thing happened.
He was trying to study for a quiz the next day when he began to grow sleepy. He yawned, stretched, and finally arose from his desk and splashed cold water on his face in order to stay awake. He started the chapter over again. But the next thing he knew he was remembering how delighted a certain friend of his from the opposite side of campus had seemed when she accepted his invitation to the weekend program.
Sam was horrified. How could he benefit from studying when his mind wandered or when he was half asleep? He had wanted to become a lawyer. But what could he do? Sadly he checked out of school and returned home.
"We thought you were going to college," everyone said when they saw him back at his old job.
"Well, I tried it," Sam replied. "But my studies weren't interesting to me. I would get sleepy, and my mind wandered when I tried to study. Since I wasn't getting anything out of it anyway, I quit and came back home."
What happens when you are reading the Bible and your mind begins to wander or you get sleepy? Do you do as Sam did, and quit? Do you put the Bible back on the shelf for another six months? Or do you do as Sam should have done, and kept at it?
Probably very few people have actually quit school because their minds wandered when they tried to study. And yet many have quit trying to have a relationship with God on that basis. It doesn't make sense, does it? We should be willing to put at least as much effort into something that has to do with all eternity as we are into those things that have to do only with our three-score years and ten.
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:14.
Sam was a college student. He had worked for quite a while to save enough money to be able to go to school. At first he had been so excited about finally being able to start preparation for his lifework that his studies had come easily. But as the weeks went by, it seemed that the teachers piled on more and more work. He became involved in more social activities. He started cutting down on his sleep to keep up, and one evening a terrible thing happened.
He was trying to study for a quiz the next day when he began to grow sleepy. He yawned, stretched, and finally arose from his desk and splashed cold water on his face in order to stay awake. He started the chapter over again. But the next thing he knew he was remembering how delighted a certain friend of his from the opposite side of campus had seemed when she accepted his invitation to the weekend program.
Sam was horrified. How could he benefit from studying when his mind wandered or when he was half asleep? He had wanted to become a lawyer. But what could he do? Sadly he checked out of school and returned home.
"We thought you were going to college," everyone said when they saw him back at his old job.
"Well, I tried it," Sam replied. "But my studies weren't interesting to me. I would get sleepy, and my mind wandered when I tried to study. Since I wasn't getting anything out of it anyway, I quit and came back home."
What happens when you are reading the Bible and your mind begins to wander or you get sleepy? Do you do as Sam did, and quit? Do you put the Bible back on the shelf for another six months? Or do you do as Sam should have done, and kept at it?
Probably very few people have actually quit school because their minds wandered when they tried to study. And yet many have quit trying to have a relationship with God on that basis. It doesn't make sense, does it? We should be willing to put at least as much effort into something that has to do with all eternity as we are into those things that have to do only with our three-score years and ten.
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