Do It Yourself—But Do It!

Mike got it into his head that he wanted to be the smartest boy in his school. So, every time one of his teachers mentioned a particular subject—presto! Mike would go flying to the nearest bookstore and blow his allowance on a book about the subject.

He bought books on fossils, astronomy, sea battles, biographies, space travel, aviation, rocketry—just name it and he had something about it. Pretty soon he needed a bookcase for his growing library, so he bought a book on how to work with wood. Until he got around to making the bookcase, though, he stored his books in an orange crate beside his bed. He would invite his pals in to look at his collection of books.

At night he would lie in bed and gaze at the titles on the books. In the morning he would wake up and feast his eyes on the knowledge that would be his someday. But, somehow or other, Mike could never find the time to begin studying what was in his books. He had all the makings of a do-it-yourself education. The only thing was, he didn't do it.

Now that sounds silly, doesn't it? But aren't we doing about the same thing? We have our daily devotions and ask God for strength and guidance, then we never let him guide us anywhere. We pray the Lord's Prayer and ask, "Thy will be done," when all the time we aren't willing to do his will at all. To follow God's will we need to change a good many things in our lives. But we like them too well just the way they are.

We are fooling ourselves, aren't we? Let's ask God to help us stop fooling around and get down to work.