Yesterday’s message “Read the Instructions!” reminded me of a test that I was given when I was in the fifth grade. I was in a multi-grade class of 5th and 6th graders, and our teacher gave this test to everyone. It was similar to this:

  1. Read everything carefully before doing anything.
  2. Put your name in the upper right-hand corner of this paper.
  3. Loudly call out your first name.
  4. Circle the word NAME in sentence two.
  5. If you have followed directions carefully to this point, call out “I have.”
  6. Draw five small squares in the upper left-hand corner.
  7. Put an “X” in each square.
  8. In your normal speaking voice, count from ten to one backwards.
  9. Sign your name under the title of this paper.
  10. Put a circle completely around sentence number seven.
  11. Put an “X” in the lower left-hand corner of this paper.
  12. Draw a triangle around the “X” you just put down.
  13. On the back of this paper, draw a picture of your house.
  14. Loudly call out, “I AM NEARLY FINISHED. I HAVE FOLLOWED DIRECTIONS.”
  15. Draw a rectangle around the word “corner” in sentence six.
  16. On the reverse side of this paper, add 8950 and 9805.
  17. Put a circle around your answer, and put a square around the circle.
  18. Punch three small holes in the top of this paper with your pencil point.
  19. Underline all even numbers on the left side of this paper.
  20. Now that you have finished reading everything, do only #1 and #2, put down your pencil and sit quietly at your desk.

I will admit that in my eagerness to get it done, I did not follow the directions. Only one or two students did, and they were trying hard not to laugh out loud at the rest of us. Our teacher drove home an important message that day: Be careful. Make sure you are following directions before you do something. And be sure you have all the information you need before proceeding.

This is critical in our lives as followers of Jesus. We need to understand the whole  counsel of God. He has shared with us everything we need to know in His Word. But often times we don’t read it or remember it or follow it. And don’t rely simply on what you see others doing. They may not be following the directions properly. Read the Word for yourself. Dig into it. Meet with others to discuss it and grow in your understanding of it. And try to live according to it in grateful response to knowing that God has given you what you don’t deserve: forgiveness and salvation for Jesus’ sake.

John 6:28–29 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”