Life Well-Lived, Part 13; Time For God

Timothy’s assignment for his combined Junior and Senior English class was to write reports on all 66 books of the Bible. All. 66. When Senior English was the only requirement he lacked to graduate, he would spend an hour or two every morning at his messy desk in the garage - reading, highlighting, and typing away on his laptop before heading out to fix appliances.

He would eventually send me the completed essay; I would highlight the grammar errors and email it back to him. He would then correct it, print it, and put it in a notebook. (While reading back through the notebook, I realized many of the essays slipped right past the "corrections" step! Oops!). Timothy’s high school graduation date was exclusively determined by how quickly he finished those Bible reports! His goal was to be the youngest graduate in our family, and he still holds the record at 16 years. And lest anyone think he cheated, reading a few of his essays will dispel all doubt of their authenticity. They are uniquely “Tim!”

The actual assignment was not a summary or a report, but to share personal insights and applications from each book: “How did this apply to me?” Timothy was the only one of his siblings to complete that assignment (the older kids took a concurrent English class at Connors to finish up their high school English requirements; but Jubilee is well on her way and determined to finish the English Bible project by the end of her Senior year!).

“My Word that goes out of my mouth— it won’t return to me empty. Instead, it will accomplish my desires, and achieve my purposes." (Isaiah 55:11) I believe the daily saturation of God's Word helped shape Timothy into the person he was. From his essay on Psalms: "I remember as a young boy someone told me, 'Your success in life is directly proportional to the amount of scripture you memorize and meditate on.' Well, I've always wanted to be successful, so that sort of stuck with me. It makes sense. If we make time for God, He will make time for us." ("...as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper."2 Chron 26:5)

I read a study that concluded: if you don’t read the Bible at least 4 times per week, your thoughts and responses to life situations will not be any different from that of the world. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” More Word = more Faith, and faith moves mountains. It might also climb them!

I’m posting Timothy’s Bible journal on the blog link below, just for inspiration. It is not a theological commentary (far from it! Think “16 year-old!”), and everyone’s take-aways would be different, but the challenge is there! To be honest, I haven’t even attempted this assignment, myself. I have read through the Bible (very slowly!) several times, but haven’t documented my treasures in this way.

Who’s up for the challenge? Trade in a sit-com or the evening news for Bible reading! Pick a book, ask God to show you what it means and how to apply it to your life. Then start reading and taking notes! You don’t have to go in order from Genesis to Revelation. Start with a short book and get comfortable with it.

Engrafting the Word of God into your life brings: Hope, (Romans 15:4), Truth (John 17:17), and Freedom (John 8:32), to name a few.

And, finally, another of Timothy's goals for himself: “Be someone worth listening to and following.”

Son, you can check that goal off your list. Mission accomplished.

"Follow me as I am a follower of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1

welovetimothyallison.blogspot.com

(books added daily)

(Correction: books added whenever I'm not babysitting the grands! lol)