For years we had been using an ancient wire refrigerator shelf we had found in some trash pile somewhere and cleaned up. We had to prop it up on logs or rocks, the latter of which were better because they didn't catch fire and burn up. When we saw the folding grill, we looked at one another and cried, "Genius!" and picked it up. That flimsy little thing gave us twenty years or so of solid service. It was probably the best $15 we ever spent.
Last year we decided it was time to look for a new one. We found one online easily, a heavy duty metal frame with a thick mesh surface and an even larger cooking area than the old one for about the same price. We used it three or four times, then brought it home, slipped it back into its box, and packed it away with the other camping gear.
A month ago we began pulling things out for our trip this year. I wondered aloud why Keith had not gotten out the folding grill.
"I did," he said. "It's on the porch."
"I didn't see it." I had been looking for the big piece of cardboard we always wrapped around the old one and tied with a piece of twine.
He must have realized my problem. "We got a new one, remember?"
"We did?" And then he took me outside and showed me the box which sported a drawing of our nice new grill--which we had used the year before! The problem was it was brand new, we used it three or four days, then put it away for 365+, never even talking about it again. No wonder I forgot about it.
That's one of the reasons we have such a hard time applying Bible principles we learn to our lives in the week. We learn them in a special building on Sunday morning and promptly forget them when we get into our cars and drive home. Bright and early Monday morning they have completely slipped from our minds and nothing changes, not our words, not our thoughts, and certainly not our behavior. We listened to a sermon, then put it up on a "shelf" or out in a "shed," and never thought about it again.
Much of this is simple forgetfulness. Quick! What was the sermon about last Sunday morning? See what I mean? Perhaps, if we are truly serious about growing and becoming better disciples of the Lord, we can come up with some simple family activities to help us with this. Just discussing the sermon on the way home or around the dinner table—even at a restaurant where a waiter might overhear—might do the trick. Why not try it, or something similar, this week?
There is yet another reason this happens and we will talk about that one tomorrow.
But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (Jas 1:25).
Dene Ward