Another Lesson from My Sweet Grandmother

Recently my grandmother was on her deathbed unable to lift her head or speak. She could not drink, eat, or even take an IV. I watched her spiral downhill quickly. I prayed. She slowly began to take small sips of water. Each day she took a little more. Within a week she was sitting up talking, laughing, and reading her Bible. It was a miracle.

It was powerful lesson for me I have thought of daily since. Her lack of nutrition was completely responsible for her physical weakness. If we did not take the time to encourage her to sip watershe would be dead now. Our spiritual walk is the same. I have seen it over and over in my life and watched it in my children’s lives. When I fail to take in spiritual nutrition, DAILY Bread, I walk in my flesh, I am too weak to battle the fiery darts, I am too weak to take every thought captive. But when I take the time to read God’s powerful Word I get strength (stronger than a locomotive) and wisdom. It is only though this essential two-way communication—prayer and Bible study—that we build our relationship with God. And only then do we get the strength my walk in His ways, resist temptations, and gain the wisdom to make the right choices that will affect our entire lives (and our children’s and grand children’s lives).

Are you “run ragged” with urgent matters? When all else is hectic and you feel tempted to put aside Bible study recognize this as a signal (A LOUD ALARM, think of it like recognizing hunger pain as a signal to eat) to you to realize it is TIME for Bible study and prayer–time is limited–it is like a bandwith. Use it well. “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Corinthians4:2). If you were to die right now, could you say, “I didn’t neglect the most important things in my life”?

Max Anders said, “It matters to God how we use our time. It is something which He has given us. We don’t own it. We are responsible to manage it for Him. It doesn’t mean we must always work. Part of our time should be used in recreation and rest, the development and enjoyment of relationships. But we must be aware of how we use our
time, and use it wisely” (“30 Days to Understanding the Bible”).

In our flesh, we think phonics, spelling, math, or history is the most important accomplishment of the homeschool day. When in reality, it is Jesus, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Paul that will teach our children far greater things than any thing in any public school text book. Don’t allow the world or satan to take away the correct perspective.

This note is my encouraging you to take sips and don’t stop drinking. Make time to read your Bible daily. To borrow Nike’s slogan, “Just Do It!”

Related Post: Tribute to My Grandmother