Cell phone connections...

can be tricky with all the dr....ped calls and such.  I do know that cell phones have genuinely contributed to greater convenience in most cases--being able to reach teen children or be reached by the school because the 2nd grader is puking or asking a friend to see if the Mart has any of those lime green sandals in yet.  And certainly the cases when emergencies are at hand, cell phones bridge that gap as well.  Personally, I'm a touch and go cell phone girl.  If I can touch my husband's cell phone and go with it, then I have one.  Otherwise, I don't. 

The other day he was out running an errand, and I suddenly had a pressing question to ask him.  It was about, um, well, I needed to know, let's see, what was it?  Anyway, I'm sure that it was quite critical and in the midst of my frantic dialing to ask him this very essential question, I glanced over to the kitchen counter that holds all things without a home or needing a home or should be in their home but haven't yet made it there, and oh yes.  I glanced over and saw that HE had LEFT his cell phone.  Now rather than be all touch and go about it, I was annoyed because I couldn't just dial, I mean punch the little buttons, and reach him at my ever blessed convenience.  Because he had LEFT his cell phone.

Then just as my huff and puff began to take on some steam, I remembered that in the aeons ago, there was a time in the far off, really far off, even distant time past, when I was but a wee child, there weren't ANY cell phones.  In fact, horror of horrors, if you needed to reach someone while they were gone, you actually had to WAIT until they returned so you could talk to them, face to face.  I know, un-bee-leave-a-bull!

So in the time I was waiting for him to get home, this blog post composed itself.

I was quite convicted of thinking how truly spoiled, indulged even, I am in regards to being able to reach my husband, my friends at a mere moment's notice to ask them really important questions.  I've replaced many of the old trusty connections, that of speaking with them face to face with my timetable.

I see a similar cell phone connection occurring with the face to face practice of reading God's Word.  I can daily, even hourly, open my inbox or surf some websites or view a Bible program and get a dose, a devotional, a when I want it delivery of Scripture. 

Now before you believe I'm reverting to some anti-technology weirdo like the Unabomber or such, I'm not against these things at all.  I am blogging, you do realize?

What struck me was my same attitude of annoyance when I couldn't reach my husband on the cell phone as the day when my online connection wouldn't work.  How in the world was I supposed to find that verse without the Bible search program with copy/paste study notes and Strong's dictionary included?

Oh yes, I could just pick up the actual Bible and sit with it before my face and read, looking for the verses, even using the concordance or marginal cross references.  I could actually read the Scriptures in context and apply wisdom to Scripture interpreting Scripture.  Novel!  If I could never get online again, and let's not be hasty about that worst case type of scenario, but if I couldn't, would I be able to truly and diligently study the Bible?  Would you?

I know that for many people that answer is "no".  My own past holds that answer.  I am quite grateful to the woman who took me aside and taught me how to study the Bible.  Not a book on the Bible, not a book about the Bible, but she discipled me in taking the time to read the Bible verses and to consider the meaning.  She taught me to look for the key words and themes, to consider the context.  She also taught me to invest in and use solid resources, like a Bible dictionary, and even a Strong's concordance.  It took time, but it was the worthiest investment of my time because it was God's Word. 

It's still God's Word today.  God's Word is the rule for life and practice, containing all revelation necessary to live a godly life.  May I know how to always use it.  May I even have so much of the Word within my heart and memory, that at any time, I can apply its marvelous truths to my in need of sanctification life.