“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
– 2 Timothy 3:16-17
I grew up in a home that rarely called a repairman. Between my dad and my brothers, we often had the know-how and the ability to do most work required to keep the house in good order. My dad often made the point that, if we did the work ourselves, we would save money. We were not the most skilled workers, but we got the job done.
One day, my brother and I were going to install a new garage door opener. Neither of us had ever done an installation like this before, but how hard could it be? We took down the old opener and prepared to do the installation. It was a new Craftsman opener from Sears. We opened the box and began the work. To be honest, my older brother did most of the work. It did not take long to put the opener up and connect it to the door. We plugged in the new motor and pressed the button… nothing. We had no idea why the new equipment would not work.
Finally, we dug into the box and opened the instruction manual. My brother kept inspecting our work, while I read the instructions. We did almost everything correctly… almost. There it was, in black and white, the step we skipped. We had not installed the safety sensors. The instructions made it clear the opener would not work without them. It took a few more minutes to install the sensors and then everything was working.
As we begin this first week of 2024, I want to encourage you to read the instructions. As a people of faith, we have been given a wonderful gift. The Bible is the gift of God that has been given to us, “so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” That day in my parent’s garage taught me that we are all able to accomplish much on our own. However, when we take a moment to read the manual, we can better shape our lives to become the people who God created us to be. A people who share God’s love and bring hope to our world.
– Rev. Keith King, Pastor of Worship
