This year’s big question for VBS
was, “What is your true nature”? They
talked about who you think you are and how others really see you. And that even though try to hide your true
nature, but hard circumstance often reveal
our true nature. The VBS program then
had us ask some really great questions that are relevant to all ages.
1.
Where does your Peace come from? Answer: Psalms 46:1
2.
Where do true riches come from? Answer: Philippians 4:19
3.
Where do you draw true power from to avoid
Temptation? Answer: 1 Corinthians 10:13
4.
Where do you go to find True Love? Answer: 1 John 3:16
5.
Where do we find true Hope? Answer: Psalms 33:20-21
Our true nature is shaped by how we
answer these 5 questions. But it is not
only about knowing the right answers but it come to living them as well. As I think about this I cannot help but compare
it to how computers and my smart phone process information.
Whenever I add a new piece of
software it changes my technology by adding functions to make it better or more
complete. For example, I have an app on my phone to track all my family’s schedules
in one place it streamlines my life, it keep track for whom, where and when
each event happens. Then sends me
reminders about when everything is scheduled to take place. What a great tool to have right at my finger
tips. It changes the nature and value of
this device. Kind of like our VBS challenged
us to change our nature.
But when you add programs or apps
like this to my computer or my phone it involves a two step process. The first part is the Download. In this process the phone collects all the
information it will need to perform these new tasks. When we come to Church, read our Bible, or listen to someone teach about
the Bible we are in this download process. We are gathering information that can
change our lives and impact our nature.
But as we all know, just knowing something is not the same as using the
information in our lives.
The second process my phone does is
the installation. It takes the
downloaded information and tells the phone what to do with it. If I installed a game it would tell the phone
how I would use the phone to control the game, and what to show on the screen,
where to save progress and so on. Once
all the connections are made the app functions correctly. But sometimes when I go to add a new app, the
two steps of the process do not happen automatically. Then I am frustrated when my phone will not
do what it is now suppose to do. To make
the new app work I have to go back and install it manually. This is much like the Christian life, it takes
time and intention to take what we learned about God and make it part of our
life. It also takes a willingness to be changed, ever notice how you will try
to make a change on your computer a warning will pop up and ask if you really
want to do what you just told the computer to do. How many times do we go to make a change and
once we start we stop the process and end up unchanged. Knowing all the right
information is not enough, we have to install it into our lives and be willing
let it change us.
So for our true nature to be
changed we need to listen to God and learn from his word, this is the download. Then I have to take the information and let
it begin to change how we think and act this is the install. We have to internally let God test us and
examine our heart and minds to see if the information is just downloaded and
stored. We do this to allow God to
Change our true Nature.
