Remembering the Basics
In August our family took a trip to the northeast to see the sights and visit friends I had not seen in 10 or 15 years. God is so faithful to use others to sharpen us. Each dear friend I visited had something different to encourage me with. That is how the body of Christ works.
I was almost fearful, however, of visiting my college roommate, now living in Virginia. I knew what she would say to me. At Auburn University she was a sort of legend in the Christian community.
She was known as “that girl who knew Scripture.” While we shared an apartment she challenged me to meditate in and memorize large portions of Scripture, and I did.
Every day I witnessed her getting up very early, wrapping herself in a blanket and poring over God's word for about an hour.
Today my former roommate is a wife, a mom, a business owner and has enjoyed great success in all.
Her four children ages 11 to 19 were all faithfully following Christ with a love for His word and a zeal for evangelism. Her business had grown from a $100 start-up out of her home to a $2 million dollar retailer.
We chatted late into the night. She had been praying for me all these years and wanted to hear every detail of my life, all my frustrations, all my failures. Then the question I dreaded, “Jeannette, have you been memorizing and meditating in God's Word?” “Well,” I hedged, “I have been reading sections and writing down applications occasionally; you know how busy I am.”
She was merciless.
“Jeannette, you do so many things right but you are neglecting the one thing that God says will give you success.”
Her life spoke volumes to me. Because of her business, she was not always there with her children. Her children were educated in private Christian and public schools. But she was there for them, praying fervently, faithfully, daily. She was there for them teaching them how to meditate in and memorize large portions of God's word. She was there for them as an example of a wife who loved and submitted to and lavishly praised their dad, a mom who encouraged them with the truths of God's word which she had so faithfully and consistently laid up in her heart all the years.
So I want to begin this school year remembering the basics.
We may have a great curriculum. we may have enriching activities for our children. But let us not neglect what God says will ensure success.
According to my concordance, the only verse which mentions success explicitly is Joshua 13. “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” This is no “health and wealth gospel,” but a true provision from a God who loves His people and wants to nourish us.
Let us drink deeply, daily from God's Word. Let us ponder it, turn it over in our minds, commit it to our memory and store it in our hearts. Let us use this Word implanted to encourage our children, to correct them, to train them up, to educate them. Let us not neglect the basics.
May you have a blessed and successful year.
