Friday,
June 2, 2023
Patterns are
useful. They are used to identify
species of animals, birds, fish, and plant-life. Patterns help us understand the ways our universe
does things, like environmental change; we can only predict what the weather
will be like because patterns repeat according to needed reordering of previous
conditions. Hot and dry needs a
cooling-off and watering. Patterns drive
ideas, such as how to hold things together more securely. Wood pieces that have screws to hold the frame
tightly last longer. But the process of
building the frame is useless without the screwdriver to make it work.
Since the dawn of
time humans have wondered about the meaning of life – the purpose of our
existence. Genetics, only recently
uncovered, reveals untold billions of possibilities in patterns, of hair that
may be curly or straight, green eyes or brown, tall or short, strength, size
and workings of the brain; the list is endless.
The discovery of
patterns that exist is obviously hugely-interesting. However, curiosity satisfaction about patterns
is only a doorstep into the skyscraper of the building of why patterns exist at
all. The WHY is God’s
gift. Unlocking the patterns of our
universe gave us atomic energy, art, scientific advances in medicine,
conservation, evaluation of the mind, and (again) the list is endless.
Paul’s advice to his
young pastoral protégé, Timothy, was to hold on to the pattern
of wholesome teaching, shaped by the faith and love which Timothy had found in Jesus
Christ.
As with screws that
hold wood together, and number patterns that build computer programming, the
love and faith to which Paul pointed can be one of two things: useful, or stockpiled. To illustrate, let’s use the difference
between a collector and a craftsman. A
collector collects whatever seems interesting to possess. A craftsman puts to use what is available to
produce something worth having. In the
metaphysical world of thoughts, philosophy, and theory, to be a collector is
useful if you merely want to have a dusty library. A craftsman goes farther than the collector,
putting the screws he picks from the supply to join the wood pieces into a
useful chair.
This, then is the
back-story to Paul’s advice to Timothy…to be God’s craftsman. In a follow-up letter, he told the young
pastor to take God’s word off the shelf of the collectors, and build it into
the lives of people.
Work hard so you can
present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be
ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
For You Today
There are about 2,500 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions
library. To dig deeper explore
some of these: Wondering
About the Big Stuff Series: Part 1
Part 2 Part 3 and We Mortals
Title Image: via Pixabay.com Images without citation are in
public domain.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted
from The New Living Translation©
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