SO…the other night I was trying to set the alarm on my new alarm clock. I had finally splurged on an alarm clock that could play my ipod. I don’t usually set my alarm and just get up when I hear everyone stirring. But it was Saturday night and I needed to be the first one up the following morning. I had been enjoying my alarm clock’s music capabilities for awhile, but I had no idea what I was doing when it came to setting the alarm. At first, I half-heartedly turned around and started pushing buttons. I quickly realized that I was going to need to put more effort into it. At this point, I turned on the light and tried to figure it out. When that didn’t work, I got out of my warm, cozy bed to hunt for the instruction manual. I had intentionally put it somewhere that I wouldn’t lose it. Now, understand, I am famous in my house for this. Putting something somewhere so that it won’t get lost…and then not remembering where that place is! As I searched through every possible drawer, cabinet, and cubby-hole that it could possibly be, I became more discouraged. It was late and I obviously wasn’t finding the directions anytime soon. So I did the obvious thing–I asked my husband to help me figure it out!
He spent some time looking at it and between the two of us, we tried to figure it out. I am not really sure we ever did. I think we set his alarm as back-up. At any rate, I woke up on time.
But, it got me thinking…setting that alarm clock without the instruction manual is a little like living life without the Bible. You try all kinds of stuff on your own power and intellect. And you may figure it out…at least occasionally. And you might get it mostly right…at least from the outside looking in..but you won’t really know what you are doing.
I have a lot of gadgets with instruction manuals. I doubt I use any of them to their full power. Why? Because I have never sat down with the instruction manual to see what they can really do. I do put the manual somewhere safe (usually!) where I can find it when I run into a specific problem…like setting an alarm! I guess we can be a little like that, can’t we? Putting our Bibles on a shelf, where they can be found in case of an emergency. And for church, of course. And when we run into a problem, after exhausting all of our human resources, we may run to the shelf and find a verse that matches our situation and encourages us. All of this–instead of abiding and walking with the Lord always. May our Bibles be well-read, well-marked, and used every day!
Amazing what you can learn from a silly little thing like an alarm clock, isn’t it?