Re-learning

Hello dear friends,
I have emerged from study hall and am ready to post my next verse. My hope is to memorize this one by this Sunday, leaving a full week to memorize my fourth verse, just in time for number 5 to be posted. My verse for this week is:

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.”
John 13:13, 14

When I first was given this verse, it was on the heals of two emotionally amazing things that touched me deeply ... both of which involved helping and doing for others. One being the day a dear friend of mine and her husband sacrificed their wedding rings to bring home 3 orphans, and the other being a friend who went to Ethiopia to serve the people and children there. Two people, both willing to give and obey the call to action when it was given by God, both willing to humble themselves to meet the needs of someone else and serve them in love. It was in thinking about them that this verse was given to me, and right away I knew what it was that God was trying to show me ... that my focus should be on doing for others, and giving to others.

A week later, I have to tell you that I have learned a few things. No, not the verse ... What I learned is that I sometimes God has more than one layer to what He is trying to show you, and often the choice to peel past the first one reveals a more personal lesson beneath it. I also learned that one shouldn't rush to put your own understandings on something when God is trying to reveal it to you ... If you do you might just miss just what God is actually trying to show you. You see, this verse is just a continuation on the lesson He began teaching me with the last verse. Last time, the focus was not only in the truths about Christian attitude found in His Word, but about choosing to make time to memorize Scripture. After that conversation, I have put forth a little more effort, and was in fact feeling a little proud of myself. (Anyone else ducking a little?) Have no fear, God was faithful to His feelings about pride, and quickly revealed to me that I did not actually learn the lesson he was teaching me last week. I had not actually spent time with Him DAILY. My argument, I was studying a verse everyday ... wasn't that spending time? How quickly he answered me in the form of a devotional that I read today. Although there were a number of very applicable and interesting things taught within it, the following jumped out of the page and pretty much knocked the pride right out of me. (I was not ducking.)

"The believer's permanent relationship to Christ is pictured in the bath. The believer's daily fellowship with Christ is pictured in the foot-washing. The bath is for union--in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). The foot-washing is for communion--with Christ (notice the "with" instead of "in" in verse 8). The link of union is so strong that nothing can break it (see John 10:27-29 and Romans 8:38-39). The link of fellowship is so fragile that an unholy walk will always break it (see 1 John 1:6).
How does the Lord wash the believer's feet? It is accomplished primarily by the frequent application of His Word to our lives. The Word of God is the means by which we get the bath. (See Psalm 119:93, John 15:3, Romans 10:17, 1 Peter 1:23.) The Word is also the way we get the foot-washing. David said, "How can a young man cleanse his way? By living according to Your Word" (Psalm 119:9). Our Lord said that those who believed in Him would be sanctified (kept pure and set apart for God's use) by God's Word (John 17:17, 20). Our bath and our foot-washings are both accomplished through the Word of God! In Ephesians 5:26 we read that "Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word." How important it is for us to read the Bible every day!"

The bold words were bolded by the author, not me, and it was all to clear what the Lord was trying to drive home: "Be in My Word every day!" Spending time working on memorizing one verse is not a substitution for getting into His Word. I admit here and now that there has not been a time in my walk with Christ that I have ever picked up the Bible every day for more than a few weeks. I start of with great intentions ... (I have proven that) ... and then life happens. A few days missed here, translates into a few weeks there, and before I know it my Daily encouragement has turned into my daily reading about God. The bold words in this devotional, however, made it very clear to me that I am to read the Bible every day AND memorize the Scriptures that I am given along the way.

As I type this, I am still grappling with the excuse of time ... and yes I am ducking! I am the queen of procrastination and there have been many a week that I have done 5 days of Bible Study in one day. I am so remedial at times, that it amazes me that God continues to pursue me and try to teach me the same thing in yet one more way.

Lisa