A Wonderful Gift

(From “A Stained-Glass Window“.) Originally published in the Western Baptist College Student Manual for the 2004-2005 academic year.

I don’t remember his name, nor can I recall much about his appearance. I call him “Arthur”, and while he wasn’t in my life for more than one or two minutes, he was one of the most influential people God has brought into my life.

For as many days as the Lord allows me to continue living, I will not forget the words that I can still hear Arthur telling me. As he injected the IV needle he complimented my veins, a comment from medical professionals to which I’ve become accustomed, and we talked for a while as he was preparing the instruments for my procedure. He asked my name, where I was going to school, and what I wanted to do with my life. It was at that moment that he stopped what he was doing and told me one of the most profound and influential things anyone has ever said to me:

“Steve, don’t you dare lose God in your studies.”

He continued, telling me that he was so disgusted by the number of people who graduate from Christian schools, entering the full-time ministry or not, and yet they do not know God! His words shook me with an unexpected tremor. I have no memory from any of the events which followed, for it was not long before I was unconscious from the anesthesia, yet even now his words hang – firmly fixed – to the walls of my mind. As the week went on I began to think about what he had told me and warned about.

“Steve, don’t you dare lose God in your studies.”

Did I know God? I knew a lot about Him, about His attributes and what He has done both in the Bible and in my life, but did I know Him? God is a person; He is our personal Creator. It is through His hands that the very matter by which we are formed does not instantly unravel, it is through His hands that the earth does not spin out of control and self-detonate into space, and it is through His hands that the nails were driven, sending Him to a death which redeemed us from an eternity of solitude and suffering. Did I love Him? Did I pray to Him from my heart, read His Word with purpose and intention, and did I actually know Him?

Our relationship with God is more than books or words on a page; it must be real. It is easy to lose the reality of the relationship when we hear about Him in chapel, read about Him for class, hear His Word in church, and sing to Him almost every day of the week. It is so natural to let it all become academia, a macrocosm of knowledge, and forget the Person behind the pages. God gave me a wonderful gift that day in the hospital; the words of Arthur. To this day those words ring in my ears every time I forget about the reality of knowing God and knowing Him personally.

One better not dare to forget God while studying and learning Him.

Don’t study about Him or about His Word. Get to know Him.