When my kids were younger we watched the Veggie Tales series all the time.  If you know the series, then you will know this song, “And so what we have learned applies to our lives today And God has a lot to say in His book You see, we know that God’s word is for everyone And now that our song is done, we’ll take a look…”

Although the song may have driven some of us crazy, I have to admit that there is a lot of truth in that song for me this year.  God’s Word does teach everyone.  He doesn’t leave dads, moms, grandparents, children, or even preachers (that’s me!) out.  Every year, as I close out the year, I look back and share what God has been teaching us.  This year I was led to consider carefully what God has been teaching me (just me, if you have learned it too it wasn’t because of some grand plan of mine – talk with Jesus).  I was hit hardest by these three lessons:

1) I need to constantly be Heavenward in my thinking.  I find it is so easy to wrestle with flesh and blood.  I find it so easy to focus on the things of earth.  I get so distracted by the flesh and the cares of this world.  I need to keep my eyes on Jesus who modeled what it looks like to focus on what is important.

2) I need to be clear about “why” I/we do things.  If I do not make it clear that we always want to glorify God then I must be flubbing it somehow.  That is the first and foremost purpose of everything I do.  I need to be clear about it.

3) I have to stop assuming everyone always “knows” what they ought to be doing.  I have to stop assuming everyone already “knows” about Jesus.  Assuming makes me very ungracious.  God is always filled with graciousness toward me.  I should do the same toward others.

If you want, let me know what God has taught you this last year.  I would love to hear it.  He never stops teaching me.  I pray that all of us stay soft to the voice of God in our lives.

Something to think about,

Pastor John