31 Days With the Book of Proverbs: A Daily Bible Study – Day 19
“If one gives answer before hearing, it is folly and shame.”
Proverbs 18:13
Do you remember learning how to drive? I do. I learned on my grandfather’s 1949 Buick. It had hydramatic automatic, but no power brakes and no power steering. Drove like a tank. Then I got a job at a local pharmacy as a soda jerk. I had to learn a lot, how to change tanks, charge the Coke machine, mix Blennd (spelled right), make sundaes, and oh yes, get a Bromo for the intoxicated as they wandered from one saloon to another (the store was in between). What a hoot. Then came the day I had to deliver a prescription to a nearby community. “Can you drive?’ the druggist asked. “Sure.” And off I went, to discover the car was a ’51 Chevy stick. I was stuck. Fortunately the other boys who worked there had so stripped the clutch that it was hardly needed. I drove successfully, and aged considerably. Listen before you answer.
I have discovered that I still have lots to learn, about myself, about others, and about life. Most of all I need to learn how to integrate God’s love and justice into my everyday thoughts, words, and actions. Am I a Christian? “Sure” I blurt out. Hold on. Are you really hearing the full impact of that question, Drew. And I struggle and stammer. It’s easy, too easy, to be a “Sunday Christian,” but we have to learn, to grow, to mature, to realize we can’t just charge off without knowing how to shift gears and use the clutch if we hope to drive safely. We need to listen, to God, to God’s word, to the still small voice whispering to us in prayer, and then translate that message of love into everyday action. And that is something “we” must do….we cannot trust that the vehicles of life will automatically see us home!
Drew Harvey
Brody Childs on Unsplash
