A week or so ago I went up to the attic to fetch an IDE cable for a computer upgrade I was working on and I happened to spot my high school diploma lying in the top of a box of other important treasure.
My high school diploma was issued to me in 1977 and certified that I successfully met the minimum requirements set by the State of Georgia for high school graduation. A diploma represents that a graduate is ready for college or trade school. It tells potential employers that the graduate can read, write, and perform basic math skills. A high school diploma is often the minimum educational level requirement for employment. My diploma was issued by an accredited school and serves as proof that I am a high school graduate. It never expires and I will never be less than a high school graduate.
My diploma doesn’t mention any of the specific requirements that I had to meet in order to graduate. You can’t tell if I barely passed High School or if I excelled. There is also no measure of my attitude or the effort I put into my studies.
To answer this for you I’ll briefly describe my approach to a High School Literature class. A book titled “Moby Dick” was one of the selections on the required reading list for this class.
To this day I have never read Moby Dick.
I was a very busy man in high school. I had a job. I had friends that needed to hang out with me. I had already met my future bride and those of you who know her also know how demanding she is. She couldn’t survive more than a few hours at a time without at least talking to me on the phone. (Keep in mind that at that time a phone had a wire and required that you be in a certain location in order to successfully make a telephone call, thus also requiring a commitment of time). On top of all of that, it takes daily discipline if one is to become a rock star. With the level of stress and pressure associated with those kinds of obligations I was forced to prioritize my time.
Unfortunately, reading Moby Dick was at the bottom of my priority list. In fairness to myself, I actually did read the first and last chapter and watched a cartoon based upon the story. Through these actions I was able to surmise that the book, Moby Dick, is about a big fish.
In spite of not reading the book, my knowledge of Moby Dick continued to increase. On one occasion I was hanging out with some guys in my think tank and the conversation turned to the physical features of a particular young lady. One of my fellow intellectuals painted a mental picture of the young lady for us by using a reference to Moby Dick.
As the rest of the group were busy laughing at the joke, I found myself in the middle of an educational breakthrough. I realized that I had incorrectly identified the species of Moby Dick as a “big fish”. Moby Dick is actually a whale. Those of you who are as smart as me know that a whale is actually a mammal. This event helped to further advance my theory that it’s not so important to read a book yourself as long as you understand the general plot and surround yourself with people who know more than you do. Eventually I would know a lot about Moby Dick and all I had to do was just hang out and listen.
Some how I passed the unit test on Moby Dick.
In hindsight I know that I missed the real benefits of reading Moby Dick even though I’m still not sure what the benefits actually are. And as I’ve grown older and wiser I have concluded that it’s unwise to speak about Moby Dick unless I just can’t avoid it. I run the risk of being exposed. Once exposed, I could also lose my credibility for things I actually do know a lot about.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am capable of becoming a Moby Dick expert. But for the time being I think I’ll hold off on running for president or accepting any teaching positions.
I told you this story because I think it often relates to our Christianity.
The Bible says that if we learn our ABC’s we can live forever. If we simply Admit that we are sinners, Believe that Jesus is God’s son, and Confess him as our Savior and Lord, we have met the minimum requirements for eternal life. In other words, you might say that we receive our diploma.
I publicly accepted Jesus when I was 15 years old. From that point forward I have never doubted my salvation.
I’ve always known that Genesis is the first book in the Bible and it says “God created us”. I know that Revelation is the last book and it says “We Won”.
It’s some of the parts in between that I’m not so sure about.
But I’m absolutely sure that if you make it to heaven, sooner or later, I’ll see you there.
And it’s the same as it was with Moby Dick; over time I’ve learned a little more about God by hanging out with other Christians and listening to those who seem to be knowledgeable.
It’s only when I actually started reading the Bible myself did I discover how much more there is to gain from reading the word of God. It’s a place where I’m finding answers to questions. It’s a place where I can make sense of the things that otherwise don’t make much sense. It makes me realize that I am only beginning to understand the TRUE nature of God and why I NEED MORE of Him. It makes me WANT MORE of Him. It GIVES ME more of Him.
He wrote His word down because he wanted me know more about him.
We can sit at a table with friends and order an appetizer, skip the entree and move on to dessert, while we have some good conversation and then pay our check and leave. But if we skip the meat and potatoes it’s only a few hours before we begin to feel hungry again. During the night we can get up and get a snack to get us by but by the time we wake up we’re starving again.
I have Type II diabetes. I saw a dietitian recently. As a diabetic I’m taught that I’ll be the most healthy when my diet consist of regular meals of the right foods. The dietitian said I should buy a cup and measure the foods I eat. I agreed to this and promised him that I would stop by Quick Trip on the way home and get myself a cup. He said he meant a glass measuring cup. That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. A glass measuring cup won’t even hold the food I eat.
I can buy the right foods and cook them, but it’s only when I eat them that I receive the benefit. You can own a bible and never read it and you’ll never see the benefit.
If the Christian is only stopping by the Church on Sunday for a quick snack, we can expect to experience hunger. If our spiritual diet is irregular we can expect spiritual health issues.
The secret to our fulfillment, what some call “being fed” is not what we do on Sunday. It’s our daily diet that sustains us.
McDonald's is known for a product they call the Happy Meal. For the Christian the Bible is the Happy Meal… it’s always full of good food and every time you open it there’s something very cool inside. It is designed to supply our daily needs.
If you feel like you aren’t being fed give this diet plan a try!
