Ensign: You Will Use Algebra In Real Life
AN
ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 24 May 2013
My
newest book The Persian Trilogy (ISBN
9781489502254) came live on Amazon this past Wednesday. And it's
not fiction; no, this fourth Bible study – and overall eleventh
book published – that I've written that tells the story particular
books of the Bible encompass, chapter by chapter. This particular one
deals with the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, three books with
their action primarily set or instigated under the reign of the
Persian Empire (radiating roughly from modern-day Iran), but I've
also written studies of Exodus, 2 Kings, and Acts.
I
am so proud – but who wouldn't be of something they wrote coming to
print? As I write that sentence I find myself thinking of the times I
have been, and often gotten my fingers in gear on the keyboard before
I thought of what I was saying and to whom I was saying it. Happened
with one friend from my senior year in high school last weekend, when
we engaged in enormous misunderstandings and I was struck from her
friends list. And I am sorry about that.
I
say this, and I know
I'm guilty of saying or writing or being something (actually, a great
many things) that I really should not have said or wrote or been.
Surprised I say this? I doubt it; even if you reading this don't call
an act of disobedience to God sin,
an act of separation from fellowship with God (Romans 3:23, “All
have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”) that we required
Jesus' death to bridge and we require God's forgiveness to restore
(the Bible's full of texts on that), it's ingrained – am I spelling
that right? – by the imperfection in us that we will fail, we will
fall, and we will sin.
I
have sinned. I will sin. And I used to be able to say “to err is
human, to forgive divine” (from an essay by Alexander Pope, I
didn't know that) with a straight face because I expected other
people to make mistakes in their dealings with me, sinful and not –
yes, it is possible to do something wrong and not sin, for I don't
think there will be people in hell for jaywalking – yet the problem
with that view is that it lowers my expectations and likewise limits
God's use of me while I walk the earth.
But
instead of using “I'm human” as an excuse, I should be using “I'm
saved” as a reason to live for God. Read this on a Facebook post a
few days ago, and it floored me. So much that I've rewritten what
this Ensign was originally going to be about – the three
great untruths that the God of Israel contravenes, people who say “I
love you”, “I will never leave you” and the title above which I
did not change ;) for He always will love You and He will never leave
You (Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5, and keep reading).
But He waits for you and me to make the first move.
And
there's got to be a real-life use for algebra (there is for
studying God's Word),
David
P.S.
I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my
address book, and I hope to be an encourager too! If you find that
I’m not or you want me to get lost, just let me know, thank you!
We
praise You, Lord, for this beautiful day You have given us! Please
pray with me for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence
and for physical and spiritual communities around our world.
Lord,
we need Your strength to fight the natural disasters and human ills
to ultimately treat the cause and not just the symptoms; until we who
have power change, this world You have made us stewards of won’t
either.
Thank
You, Lord, for all those in leadership and service here and abroad.
Thank You for the opportunities we have been given as well as the
promise of new life through Your Son. And may we all seek and have a
blessed week! Amen.
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