Let’s make this easy. Below is a list of ways you can misuse prescription drugs. In addition to the explanation for each misuse is a parallel misuse of Scripture. See if any of these abuses hit home with you.

1. You forget to take it.

Prescription Drugs– You have the right prescription and you intend to take it at the right time, but you keep forgetting to take it. The pill bottle just sits there on your bedside table collecting dust. Do you have a realistic hope of getting better with this behavior?

Scripture – You know from experience or even from a recommendation that spending regular time reading Scripture will help you with whatever problem you have. You have a Bible and the freedom to read it when you want to, but you keep forgetting.

Of course, you know that if it was truly important to you, you would not forget. Instead, it appears that you are more comfortable in continuing to struggle. Either that, or you would rather get your “prescription” from a non-licensed physician. Maybe your friends or the latest self-help book really can give better advice than the Creator of the universe.

2. You apply it incorrectly.

Prescription Drugs– Your elbow is hurting. Rather than going back to the doctor for a new prescription, you decide to pull out the ointment you were given for athlete’s foot last year. You rub this ointment on your elbow for relief. Don’t think this never happens!

Scripture – This one can apply two ways. First, you have good intentions, but you simply do not yet have the skills required to properly apply what you are reading. Likely, you are simply misinterpreting what you are reading. Fortunately, in this case the Holy Spirit will be helpful and guide you in the right application if you will just ask for help.

The other way this can happen is when you have a particular solution in mind before you even search God’s Word. You search and search until you find a verse that could be taken out of context to fit your needs. An extreme example would be to use Genesis 38:15-16 to confirm your weekend plans!

3. You do not fill the prescription.

Prescription Drugs– You took the time to go to the doctor and have him prescribe something to give you relief from your ailment, but you really don’t have time to go to the pharmacy to fill the prescription. Maybe tomorrow. Really?

Scripture – A friend or mentor has told you that reading and meditating on a certain Psalm really helped them get over their similar problem. You have thought about taking the time to read that Psalm, but you have just been so busy. You really have not had time to read it. You will work on that next week.

4. You won’t even go to the doctor.

Prescription Drugs– You hurt and you know there is likely something that could bring you relief, but you don’t want to ask. The doctor may think you are weird or weak. Someone may find out that you are not the specimen of health you pretend to be.

Scripture – You work with someone that often mentions how specific Scriptures have helped her overcome struggles in her life. You have similar struggles, but you cannot bring yourself to ask her where to look in the Bible for help. She may think less of you if she knows you have these struggles. You will just figure it out on your own.

5. You do not ingest it.

Prescription Drugs– You have the right prescription and you remember to take it, but you are somewhat afraid to swallow it completely. Instead, you decide to lick it on a regular schedule. Do you really think this will work?

Scripture – In this case, you do take your Bible out and read it regularly. The reading part is not the problem, but you really are not confident enough to fully digest what you have read and apply it. Instead, you are hopeful that you will gain enough benefit just from coming in contact with God’s Word. You really are hoping that maybe you will get Holy Spirit Brownie Points for the effort!

Do any of these abuses sound familiar? Do you struggle with any of these abuses of Scripture?

I think these abuses may be more common than we think. At the same time, there is one way that abuses of prescription drugs and Scripture are different. In fact, I would venture to say that this specific form of abuse can cause opposite effects.

6. You take too much of the prescription.

Prescription Drugs– Your head really hurts more today than normal. You decide to take triple the recommended dose. Surely that will take the pain away three times as fast, right?

Scripture – You find that properly taken as directed, reading and applying God’s Word really works! In an effort to increase the effects, you decide to spend a lot more time reading and meditating on it. The funny thing is that this actually works even better!

The bottom line is that we need to treat the Scripture as if it has been prescribed to us and we should take it as directed. For some specific advice on this, check out the following Scripture and see if it is clear enough for you.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Psalm 119:11

James 1:22-25

Proverbs 3:1-2

2 Timothy 2:15

What is your experience with Scripture?

Are you guilty of abusing it in any of the ways listed?

What can you do to improve your track record?

Photo by svedoliver / iStock

Skilled Worker Required

It has been several years now since we moved into our new Honda building. It was a huge renovation project that took nine months and almost 150 different skilled workers to accomplish. While many would see this as a fairly simple project, I can tell you that it was much more complex than it looked. Without the efforts of those involved, it would never have happened.

Why do I say skilled workers? Sure, there were some intricate jobs like laying the ceramic tile or doing the metal work on certain pieces of custom fixtures. Either of these jobs should qualify as requiring a skilled worker, right? But what about the guys that were sweeping the floors every day. What about the one’s demolishing the walls and old fixtures at the beginning? Are these really “skilled workers”?

Skilled Worker?

In my opinion, they are. If the superintendent had handed me a broom and asked me to be one of the sweepers, I would have required much more information. I would need to know when I was to sweep. Sweeping at the inappropriate time could be dangerous to my health if that was the same time a wall was being torn down.

I would also need to know where to sweep from and where to sweep to. I would need to know what to sweep up and what to leave behind. If sweeping a large area, I would want to know the most efficient way to do it as well, right? All of this information is already known by a skilled worker. He would require no instruction and would correctly handle the job.

Teacher Of God’s Word

The same is true of a teacher of God’s Word. Before we dig into this, let’s look at the Scripture I am drawing from:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15

We Are To Be Skilled!

We discovered in my last post that we are all commanded (in the Great Commission) to be teachers. While there will be different settings for each of us, HOW we teach should be the same. I don’t mean our methods, but instead I am saying that we are all to be skilled workers when it comes to teaching others about God and His Word.

The first step in becoming a teacher is to get to know the subject matter. If we are going to attempt to pour into others, we must have something to pour, right? This “something” is a working knowledge of God’s Word. In fact, we should have such a strong knowledge that we are “not ashamed” of that knowledge (or the lack of it)!

Easy 3-Step Process?

How do we do this? Is there a silver bullet? Maybe there is an easy 3-step process or a quick six-week program I can zip through? Maybe I can get an app on my phone that will basically do it for me?

NO! NO! NO!

Be Diligent!

I am truly sorry to burst your bubble, but this knowledge is only going to come through consistent reading, studying, and meditating upon God’s Word. In fact, Paul tells Timothy at the beginning of verse 15 above, “Be diligent”. The path to correctly handling and teaching the Word of truth is not an easy one.

It requires a strong commitment of daily immersion in the Word. It comes through applying what you have learned and seeing the challenges that come as a result. It comes through trials and tests in which you have relied upon the Word to survive. It only happens if you are familiar with the Word because it is central to how you live your life.

Yes, you can teach without knowing all of this about the Word. But can you be a skilled worker? Can you present yourself to God in this way without being ashamed? I don’t think so. In fact, I would not want to try!

Ramp It Up!

I encourage you to ramp up your study of the Bible. If you are already doing it on a daily basis and you are applying what you learn as you walk through life, then congratulations. You are likely already teaching it as well.

If you are not already doing this, then I urge you to start (or restart). Dig back into His Word and begin to learn what He has to say to you. Do it in such a way as to be a skilled worker when the opportunity comes to teach someone else! You will not be ashamed then!

Do you already consider yourself a skilled worker with the Bible?

If not, what is your plan to change that?

Who are you going to ask to hold you accountable?

Photo by Lawrence Wee/Shutterstock

Waiting To Be Told

If you have been working for any length of time, you have probably witnessed this. For the most part, any new employee needs to be told what to do in the beginning, right? Unless they have worked that exact job before, there are things they need to be told first.

They probably need to know WHAT to do, WHY, WHEN, and HOW they are to do it, and maybe a few other tips. Once they get this, they should be able to go forward on their own with only occasional guidance along the way.

Still Waiting…

The problem is that some employees are still waiting to be told what to do. You probably know some of these people where you work. Maybe they work for you. No matter how many times they have read the job description or listened to the training, they refuse to take action on their own. They can sometimes be found actually standing around because no one stopped to tell them what to do next! It really amazes (and frustrates) me!

To be clear, I am not talking about waiting to be told about NEW tasks, responsibilities, or ideas. As employees are being developed for promotion or more responsibility, they need to be taught more. They cannot know the new stuff until it is taught to them. I am only now talking about what they already know (or should know) they are to be doing.

What About Us?

So now that I have you worked up and as frustrated as I am, let’s (again) turn this around to be about us. You probably knew this was coming, didn’t you? For the sake of this discussion, we are the “employees” in this picture and God is the “employer”.

As you go through the rest of this post, ask yourself if you are acting just like one of these employees. Ask yourself if you are “standing around” waiting to be told by God (again) what He wants you to do. Be honest with yourself and allow Him to guide you. He will show you what He wants you to see.

Examples

Let’s take an easy example to start with.

Our “handbook” (the Bible) says that we are to love God (Matthew 22:37-40), right? This is called the Greatest Commandment and we should all be aware of it by now. We have probably read it many times and have likely heard sermons (training) on it as well.

So, are you DOING it? Are you really LOVING God? Are you doing it with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength? OR are you waiting to be told again that you are to do this?

If I am honest in answering these questions for myself, then I would say I am doing it sometimes and I am trying to do it other times. I can’t really say that at any point in time I am sitting around waiting to be told again to love God. I think I have a passing grade here, but not by much.

Another Example!

Let’s get a little tougher. We have all likely heard of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) as well, right? We are told here to go and make disciples of all nations. Again, we have read it and heard many sermons on it. I doubt there are any of us that can honestly claim ignorance here.

So, again I ask the question. Are you DOING it? Are you truly making disciples? Are you mentoring someone in the Christian walk? Are you engaging your employees, co-workers, and others in Christian ministry? Are you teaching what you have been taught?

In the past, I could answer this question with an easy “Yes!” without blinking an eye. Lately, I have allowed distractions to creep in and now I am unable to answer with confidence. What about you? Have you made an effort? Have you allowed distractions to interfere?

More Examples!

I won’t go into detail with each of the following areas from our “handbook,” but I will at least list them and let you ask yourself the questions. Think about each category and ask yourself the tough questions. Where are you waiting to be told what to do? If that is difficult for you or if you think you will go too easy on yourself, ask someone else to help you. Maybe that can be the start of a discipling relationship!

Evangelism (Acts 1:8)

Tithing (Matthew 23:23)

Love your enemies (Matthew 5:43-44)

Forgive your enemies (Luke 17:4)

Praying for others (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Bible study (2 Timothy 2:15)

Take Action!

When you have had enough abuse for one day and you are ready to close out this post, stop and do one more thing. Decide on one, only one, of these areas and commit to do something!

Commit to make at least one change. Start doing something that you already know you should be doing. It will be the first step down a great and rewarding path!

Where are you doing what you know you should be doing?

Where are you waiting to be told what to do?

What are you going to do about it?