Pop Quiz

I remember when I was in 3rd grade our teacher gave us this quiz. The line said, "Read all the instructions first." The request of the quiz went something like this:

• Fold the paper in half
• Fold the paper in half again
• Make an X in the upper left and lower right square
• Put a circle in the upper right and lower left square

The test went on with these absurd instructions until you got to the last question which said:

Disregard all other instructions, only right your name in the upper left hand corner.

The purpose of the quiz was to illustrate the need to pay attention to what's important. So... this morning, I offer you a pop quiz of my own.

• What do you remember about Moses?
• What do you remember about Noah?
• What do you remember about King David?
• What do you remember about the Apostle Paul?

Are you ready for part 2?

• Why did God send Moses to Pharaoh? What was he trying to prove?
•  Why did God choose Noah? What was the purpose of the flood?
• What did God say about Kind David's heart and why wouldn't he let him build a temple?
• What did God say to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus and what mission did God give him?

Many times we read the Bible like it's a series of stories and we marvel at the characters. I have heard many times people say things like I could never do what Daniel, Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego did. People are always comparing themselves to Elijah or Peter and don't think they could ever measure.

To those people, I say it's not about the people... it's about God and what He wants to happen.

Romans 12:1-3 The Message

1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

 3I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.