Now here’s a thought.

Now here’s a thought - and it could really offend some people so be warned.

There was I just minding my own business. I was unwinding ready for the weekend just listening to one of those ‘perfect preachers’ – you know what I mean – guy with a wonderful preaching gift expounding and unravelling the scriptures for us all – exhorting us to “study – study – study”, when a truly radical thought came to mind. I was thinking that if we obeyed the exhortations of all these preachers we would spend 35 hours a day with our noses in the Bible, and we would have no time for anything else !! (That’s not the radical thought)

Now I am not a natural student. I did well at school for two reasons – one I am intelligent (IQ 150+) and two I have a wonderful gift of just passing exams without any revision whatsoever !! Yeah its true – I am lazy AND the most fortunate of men in that I don’t have to spend hours with my nose in the text books. Don’t people like that just offend your sense of justice? Certainly it’s why I was so good at sports as a young man – I excelled at soccer, swimming, and field events. No – it’s not at all fair but hey – I enjoyed it. I enjoyed not studying. I also excelled at languages so I would never have been out of work either. But I wasted a lot of it because I am so lazy

Anyway, back to my thoughts. I was thinking that some people really do spend hours and hours in studies. What does it gain them? Where does it get them? What purpose does it serve? That’s when my radical thought struck me. I’m pretty sure it came from the Lord too !! Try this one for size –

“Some people only ever study My Word. They never use what they learn. They never stir themselves into action. They simply use the study of My Word as an excuse for doing nothing !!!”

WOW – where did that come from? Was that really you Lord? “Yes, some people say they are too busy to actually do my work. But they are simply avoiding it by pretending to try to learn more about Me and My ways through My Word.”

“So why would they do that?”

“They don’t want to get their hands of their minds dirtied by the world. They cannot deal with people so they immerse themselves in other ‘Godly’ activities.”

WOW again. Was this really God speaking to me? Well I began to think about what He said and I realised the truth in there. People love the idea of Christianity; they love the idea of God as He is presented in the Bible; but they don’t really want to serve Him. Why do so many people go to that conference or outreach or teaching event time and time and time again yet they NEVER take any unsaved people with them? Why do so many people treat their church as simply a ‘God Club’ rather than the way of expressing their faith in a wonderful loving Father God?

Before you all start protesting about ‘I haven’t got the time’ or ‘I can’t leave my family/dog/cat to go on the trips you go on’. Yes I accept that. I am not aiming at you personally. There are very many who truly cannot do what I do – they are not called to it for a start. But there are equally many who could do so much more – but they prefer to leave it to others. ‘Don’t want to get involved. Don’t want to get my hands dirty. I mean, some of the people you mix with are rough and common people aren’t they?’ Well, don’t fret – I am more than happy to do whatever I can – just as many are not do-ers, so I am not a study-er. Wouldn’t do if we were all the same now would it ??

Now – There really is a thought for you. Where’s my coffee ??