Tucked Away Notes
I found myself flipping through the pages of my Bible the other day. Notes and pictures revealed themselves across the 66 books. Not too many though; four to be exact. One in Zechariah, one at the start of 1 Peter; the third peeking out of the notes and index section in the back and the best, the fourth note, just fluttered out onto the ground.
I found myself flipping through the pages of my Bible the other day. Notes and pictures revealed themselves across the 66 books. Not too many though; four to be exact. One in Zechariah, one at the start of 1 Peter; the third peeking out of the notes and index section in the back and the best, the fourth note, just fluttered out onto the ground.
My teen niece visits once in a while and joins us for our Sunday worship service sitting with and saying, “Hello” to her faith family. The Zechariah note is her picture doodle capturing all that was on her mind and heart a few years ago. She definitely understood the need for a world’s sin to be covered by the rescuing savior’s blood. It’s there just off the strawberry and other teen musings. A blue torn page, the second sheet, made me laugh. How did a raggedy slip of a quarter sheet, an old church bulletin, with Psalm 23 printed on it, end up stuffed between James and 1 Peter? The top of the page is intact: “Order of Worship, Prelude, Welcome. “Call to Worship: ‘The Lord is my Shephard; I shall not want” and all the rest survives. “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” A tattered horizontal line shears through the paper, leaving the top half of the word, “Invocation”.
The third is a sheet of my notes, a fill-in-the-blank form used to follow a sermon. “Joyful are those whose wills are surrendered to God, for they will inherit the earth”. That’s the top note. A half sheet is full of my own jots and thoughts. “It’s a joyful place to occupy as we participate in what God is doing”. “Embrace being an image bearer. Embrace citizenship in Jesus’ Kingdom”. These are good notes to tuck away. Truths that hit the mark and stir the soul, and have made the cut. I understand why I tucked these into the pages that guide my life. My niece is dear and often in prayers as she navigates young adulthood. Men and women of service proclaimed and encouraged one another with the heart of Psalm 23. “He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”.
I reach to scoop up the one page that fell away. It was a US Army Garrison prayer card. Hmmmm. The prayer reads:
Come let God fill our hearts to ready us anew!
Ready us to love Him.
To be ready to love others, to be ready to live lives that “show Him out.”
Show him out:
In our world
On our streets and in our city…
(Deut. 6:4-17)
Amen.