Map Studying

Map Studying

5/26/15

How many of us believe we know the way to grandma’s house?  How many times have we made a trek and after a while on the road and being close to the destination realize that we have not remembered the way?  All of us have had this experience and while it is embarrassing, most of us will hide this truth as long as we can from others.  But eventually the truth will slip and we must confess our forgetfulness and our stubbornness due to the fact that we relied upon our patterns instead of refreshing ourselves with the road map.  All of us have done the exact same thing with God as well and have relied upon our memories concerning His road map and in the end have fouled up His meaning for those who are dying.

Summer is approaching Colorado and that means that it is time once again to start finalizing plans for the garden.  While I absolutely adore Fall, Winter and Spring, I am always anxious to have my hands in the dirt planting and keeping our garden.  For the past five years of so we have had a garden that we have maintained through raised boxes which are located in our back yard.  For the past four years now we have increased our garden by building a few more boxes each season; this year was no exception either.  It is always fun to watch our garden expand and it is even more wonderful to think that God will bless us even more this year and in keeping with the laws of sowing and reaping we can immediately turn around and bless others with our blessings from God.

Over the past few months my wife and I had been carefully planning out what we wanted to grow this year according to what our pantry deemed was necessary.  As the time became closer to plant Bonnie had drawn out a map of how the boxes were laid out in the yard and both of us had discussed where each vegetable section was going to be planted.  The map was beautiful and everything that we wanted to grow had its own space.  The map and placement of plants took some time to complete but when this portion of the garden planning was completed, it was going to be the perfect garden once again.

For those of you who know me I am usually pretty good at reading and remembering maps.  Geography and Cartography also have come easy for me for both subjects I love to study with great enthusiasm and for most of my life I have drawn maps and geographical boundaries and other identifying landmarks in order for my mind to understand patterns better.  I pride myself on being able to look at a map and basically understand its patterns quickly not needing to look at it again until sometime in the future, and if I have been over that terrain or have looked at the same position on a map more than once I really do not need the map again.  Yet, this time was different and this setting, while simple, proved to be a challenge to me and after I had completed a task realized that something was wrong.

The process of expansion turned out well and everything was in order for planting soon after all of the topsoil was placed inside the boxes.  While our garden is not a community affair we are blessed to have one of our neighbor families who have four beautiful angels that like to help us with the garden.  At one point, their entire family was over helping us plant seeds and plants which was a tremendous help to us, plus allowing the kids to learn some gardening skills.  All of the kids had a blast and did a wonderful job and followed directions to perfection.

At one point of the planting session Bonnie had to go inside for a few moments to tend to some business and left me in charge of planting some of the pepper plants.  She handed me the map of where we had planned out where they were supposed to be and I took a quick glance over it again before we continued the planting mission.  I quickly ran my eyes over the map and then placed it back on the ground where Bonnie had placed it before.  I then went over to the plant carrier box and picked up two of the pepper plant containers.  I carefully looked at the containers and made sure that I was not going to mix up the pepper plants and put them in the incorrect order, not having a clue I was about to mess up the entire process by my next steps.

After retrieving the correct pepper plant containers, I brought them over to the box in which I believed was ready to receive the next plants into its confines.  I brought over one of my little helpers to begin digging the holes in which the plants were going to be placed.  After he had carefully dug the hole I asked another helper to put some water inside the hole while I got one of the pepper plants from its sitting.  I broke open the bottom of the roots and then bent over to place the plant into the ground, which went according to my plan without any flaws.  I then promptly covered the roots with the surrounding dirt and then had my second helper place more water on the area.  My little helpers and I repeated these steps five more times to complete the box and then I stood up and completed my view of the work and believed it was good.

I had planted the correct number of plants into the box and then was ready to move to the next box to continue planting the pepper plants, so my next logical step was to pick up the map again and look to see exactly where the plants should be planted and how many I needed to plant.  As I picked up the map and gazed upon the print, I realized that something was not right with the layout of the garden.  I looked at where I had just planted the pepper plants and then looked at the map again to confirm that I had just blown it big time.  As soon as I confirmed this error I said with a firm tone the words “uh oh” and it was then that everyone who was outside turned and looked at me.

There was nothing I could do but admit my mistake because just immediately before Bonnie went inside she and the little helpers had planted the beet seeds, in the same box where I had just planted the pepper plants.  After an embarrassing laugh I had no choice but to move the plants and to place them in the correct box so I tried t start the process before Bonnie returned; you know, covering up my mistake from the true person in charge of things.  That was not going to happen since as soon as I began to un-plant the pepper plants Bonnie returned to the scene and all had to be explained.  My one task that I was given to do I blew tremendously and repairs had to be done.

It did not take too long for the plants to be replanted into the correct box; however, the damage had been done to the beet seeds and I know that some of those seeds will be wasted due to my huge mistake.  Yes, seeds are cheap right at the moment but what if conditions were hard and money was extremely tight?  That small mistake would have proven to be a huge loss instead of a minor mistake, and a mistake that should have never occurred.  But was this mistake of mine really small?  And what kind of potential does it have to become a major problem?  All of these issues and questions do have a part to play in the overall picture and could potentially have devastating consequences.

If I would have only taken a more thorough study of the map that had been drawn out for everyone this mistake probably would not have occurred.  It was a simple misread of a location and resulted in the planting of plants in the wrong place.  Not only did I have to transplant the plants to another location, which can have a disastrous effect on them, but I also disrupted the stability of the beet seeds that were comfortably resting in their nook.  My one is due to the fact that I was not paying attention to the details of the map and while it was there and I could have picked it up at any moment and studied it further, I chose to take a glimpse of it instead and it was this glimpse that cost me.

How does this example come into play in our lives with God?  What is the map that God has provided for us so that we can have the perfect resource of guidance during our journey?  That map is the Bible and it is God’s Word for our lives and it is a map that will show us the way towards total happiness and restoration through Jesus unto God.  It is a given that the world wants nothing to do with this map, for its truths go contrary to the world’s beliefs.  But on the other hand it is also evident that many Christians are taking the same stance as the world when it comes to God’s Word.

Many of us have used God’s Word against people in order to prove our point in a debate and we have used the contexts of God’s Word in order to sustain a specific belief that we hold.  In every case this type of usage is totally wrong and a prime example of not studying God’s map well enough to understand what is actually being said.  Yes, we have read the map and believe we understand it well enough to command its usage, but in reality all we are doing is planting seeds into the wrong place and it could very well cost a person’s eternal life.

It is important for us to understand that the Bible is referring to examples that really occurred in the past.  The people in the Bible were not fictitious they were actual human beings and experienced true human problems and situations.  It is through these occurrences that we need to study what God is saying to us so that we do NOT have to repeat the things that those people encountered.  The people within the Bible were human; they had hearts, legs, brains, and all of the other physical and spiritual characteristics as we do today.  This means that everything that they went to and were subject to can be applied and experienced by our lives today.

It is through studying God’s map that we can begin to understand how our lives are drastically played out if we do not know what God is referring to through His words of wisdom.  The world and its leader can be very deceptive and place things into a humanly form which plays upon our hearts and according to earthly standards, makes perfect sense to strive towards.  But many of the worldly standards that are constantly displayed are not good for our overall lives but only satisfy current circumstances that are being experienced.  That type of condition is not a stable one and can only provide a temporary and situational result and does not prepare one for a future problem.

The underlying foundation for these notices is the true meaning of choice and important we understand the entire picture instead of the immediate standings.  If the overall picture has been explained and can be relayed to another person, group or nation before that same situation occurs, why shouldn’t this standard be put into place and made publicly known?  What I find most intriguing is that the world’s leaders are desperately seeking these answers to current problems that we have created.  Blame is the game being presented right at the moment which demonstrates to the world’s population that no definitive answers are being sought, or cannot be noticed.  Yet, the answers are right before our eyes and hearts and we are voluntarily throwing the map away.

God includes many nations, situations, individuals and even animals in His explanation of life and it is our responsibility to use our brains and our whole hearts to understand what is being portrayed to us.  God’s laws are NOT for us to slaves and to isolate us from living.  God’s laws ARE designated and were created for us to be separated from the world and to live in holy freedom from the world.  Given this truth, that means there is something really, really wrong with the world and its leader that God deems for us to not be associated with, and to not become involved.  I guess our lives are worth much more than many of us put into place for God has provided a way for us to bypass many troubles that we will have opportunity to encounter over our lifetime.  This truth also explains that God’s Word is literal and not subject to human manipulation.

The only way that we can come to this conclusion is to have studied the map carefully, identifying the intricate details of what is actually being said.  This examination is one of a constant manner and a continuous effort through a pure and selfless heart.  Self blinds our hearts greatly and will automatically cloud and inhibit our full understanding of what God is wanting us to understand about Him, our life and what the dangers are that surround us.  It is through His map that we find the way out of this world, not into it.  If God’s Word is a light unto our paths then His Word must show us the way or in this case provide a detailed way to rid ourselves from worldly possessions and standards.

We as humanity have voluntarily dulled our senses of the importance of studying and applying God’s map to our lives.  We have selfishly read the Scriptures and interpreted them in ways that suit our needs or wants.  And while God allows this choice to occur we not knowingly allow the world to creep into our lives more and more thus subjecting us to a damnable result and resulting in an eternity of separation from Life itself.  Studying the map of life actually provides us with a window of opportunity to obtain what God has planned for our lives but we can never understand what is at stake if we only skim over the map every once-in-a-while.  Skimming does not establish a relationship with God, only a divisive religion that serves only what it is derived from, itself.

Even though I helped write the map of the garden and where every plant and seed was supposed to go, I still messed up because I became careless with the map.  The Church has done the exact same thing with God’s map for our lives and it is evident that as of now we have no intentions of turning around.  That is our choice and from what God has shared with us today we need to re-evaluate the importance of that word – choice – for it is something that is far greater than we proclaim it to be in our lives.  Study the map do not just read it for if we do not study it there is no way we can effectively understand it well enough to provide a measurable and truthful completion of our mission to a dying world, only participate in it.

DLB