Following…..
Following Instructions
Everyone knows that most toys and electronic gizmos come complete with accompanying instructions, and my wife and I are at opposite ends of the pole regarding what to do with these. She thinks they belong in the bottom of the box. I, on the other hand, obsess over instructions. I especially like the ones that give you an inventory of parts before you begin so you can be sure everything is there. I lay all the pieces out and notice if there are two sizes of the same thing like screws or dowels. Just because something fits doesn’t mean it’s the only thing that goes there. Then I take it step by step. I check and recheck the pictures as I go. I have to have total concentration when I do this, because sometimes deciphering these instructions is like reading another language. I actually enjoy this. My wife and son do not. “Papa! Why are you taking so long?” This usually elicits a reaction from my wife who believes that I didn’t involve my older children enough in projects like this when they were little, and now is my chance to make that up by letting Chandler help me so that we do this thing together. She would undoubtedly believe that if I let him help me and he ruined the whole thing in the process, it was worth it for what he learned by trying and what we built by working together. What is she thinking? The worst is when she decides she and Chandler are going to put something together without me, and I have to watch the two of them guess at the pieces with the instructions in the bottom of the box. This is when I usually leave the room (I can’t take the suspense) and return to her gloating looks as they roll out the finished product. Marti doesn’t care about getting it right as much as she cares about spending time with her son. I have to admit that I now believe Marti’s choices are better. God has given us his Word, which includes a lot of instructions for living that we are prone to miss sometimes. But I don’t think that getting us to live right is his ultimate goal. His goal is to have a relationship with us. We can try and put our lives together, even study the Bible diligently, and get so stuck in the instructions that we miss the whole point altogether. Making life work is not the only thing that is important. Doing it with someone else is just as important, and ultimately, knowing God is the point of the whole thing. Come to think of it, loving God with everything we have is the only instruction he really cares about.
