Perfect Instructions - Oh, to Remember These!

Rhonda Rhea--she's a quirky, sunshiny sweetheart in the Body of Christ, with a heart to honor her Lord. In this short Spiritual Growth UPGRADE, she writes about "instructions" we need to heed.

"It’s really funny when I read the directions on the brownie mix box and then throw it away," Rhonda says. "Like I somehow think I won’t have to dig it out of the trash five minutes later. Or also dig it out eight more times after that."

Oh, Rhonda. You keep me (Dawn) in stitches. How is it you always manage to take everyday situations and turn them into stand-up comedy?

With stand up truth!

Rhonda continues . . .

Sometimes I totally forget how to boil brownies.

Not that there’s a lot of ADD at work here or anything, but I was looking up the symptoms for ADD the other day and ended up watching puppy videos on Facebook for 45 minutes.

• Take one large portion of forgetfulness.
• Fold in equal measurements of all the attention deficits.
• Then add a generous sprinkling of puppies.

What do you get? Well it’s not brownies, I’ll tell you that right now.

One time I was in a meeting with an editor and suddenly noticed that when I polished my nails, I totally missed one. Nine painted nails. What, I forgot how many fingers I have?

So I was supposed to convince an editor that I could responsibly finish an entire book when I couldn’t even manage to polish all ten fingernails.

FOCUS, Girl!

My focus will probably always come and go. And then probably go.

But I don’t want to be any kind of forgetful, distracted or careless when it comes to God’s message for me.

In Christian circles, we speak often about reading God’s Word. Why do you suppose we make such a big deal about the Bible?

Probably the biggest reason is that whatever measure of attention we give the Word of God, by that measure we’ll grow.

 No attention, no growth.

And simply reading the Bible is not really the goal. It’s not about ritual. The goal is to know God. It’s to open His Book—His personal message to us—and to meet with Him there.

The Father’s is a message that makes sense of life. A message that grows us. And even more, a message that completes us.

When Paul wrote that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,” he also wrote about what all the training is for:  “so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 HCSB).

Anytime we’re feeling a bit disconnected or directionless—a bit “incomplete”—it’s important to examine how focused we are on communing with the Father through His Word.

It’s time to dig those instructions right back out.

The word “complete” in 2 Timothy 3:17 is from the Greek word “artios.” It’s a math concept that implies that nothing else needs to be added to make it whole. All-inclusively, perfectly polished.

If your desire is to be “artios,” start with His Word.

When you boil it all down, isn’t that desire to be whole—to have a deep and meaningful relationship with our Creator—what we all want in life? It’s exactly what we were made for. Without that complete connection, life will always seem a bit... off. Not quite right.

May we ever wisely trade that “not-quite-right-ness” for the completeness we find in our Creator and in connecting with Him through His Word.

And on other topics of “not-quite-right-ness,” do let me know anytime you’d like me to give you an almost-mani.

Or boil you some brownies.

Where are you seeking your "completeness" these days? Is it in spending time with the Lord? If not, what might need to change to encourage "artios" in your life?

Rhonda Rhea is a humor columnist, radiopersonality, speaker and author of 10 books, including How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take to Change a Person?, Espresso Your Faith - 30 Shots of God's Word to Wake You Up,and a book designed to encourage Pastor's Wives (P-Dubs): Join the Insanity. Rhonda, a sunny pastor's wife, lives near St. Louis and is "Mom" to five grown children. Find out more at www.RhondaRhea.com.