Being Myself

Read II Timothy 3:10-4:5

            God has blessed my Pastor with a wonderful memory. He can recall Scripture accurately at any given moment. He knows Bible history and structure like his own name. I’m quite envious, especially when I must search repeatedly for a passage I know I know but can’t find.

            Recently God has corrected my thinking, though. I was grumbling to myself as I flipped through the book of Revelation, looking, for the countless time, for the part talking about every nation, tribe, people, and language. And I realized what a privilege I have. First of all, I have multiple Bibles as my fingertips, wherever I am. And I can read, even if I have to squint a bit for the smaller-print ones. But mostly, it’s a blessing to peruse the pages, looking for what I need. Sometimes God shows me another passage that is meaningful. Often He brings back a memory associated with a verse or a comment I’ve previously jotted down. Any time in God’s Word is a treasure to be valued.

            The next day one of my Bible study questions was to list New Testament verses that went along with some Old Testament concepts. It took a while, but it was a lot of fun. I flipped through my Bible, revisiting past studies, sermons, readings. I actually know a lot of God’s Word, even if I can’t always find certain passages. And it means something to me – God has opened up His Book for me to read and get to know. He pours Himself into the verses in order to change me by them. Perhaps He has made me to need to continually go through Hs Word, not remembering it as easily as some others, because that’s how He wants to work in my life. 

            God has given me what He wants me to have. He gives other gifts to each of His children. When am I going to stop looking at what they have and I don’t, and truly appreciate all God has made me to be?