31 Who Needs Instructions?
Cory was very excited when the Body Bufferizer 3000 Extreme exercise machine came in the mail. Cory has been a fairly scrawny person most of his life and he hoped that the BB3KX machine would change all that and give him the body he has always wanted. However, before Cory could start working out towards having a stronger and fitter body, he had to assemble the exercise machine first.
The BB3KX machine came with a very detailed step-by-step instruction manual, but Cory decided that he was smart enough to assemble the exercise machine alone. Besides, he thought to himself, how hard could it be to assemble it?
Unfortunately for Cory, it was a lot harder than he thought! It took him over four hours to assemble the machine through trial and error and only looking at the cover box as a reference. It was a very frustrating experience and Cory found that he had some parts left over after he assembled the BB3KX machine. Well, maybe I don't need those parts, he thought to himself. Everything should still work out fine.
However, Cory was wrong again. Some of the parts of the exercise machine did not move correctly like in the infomercial. At one point Cory was pulling on one part so hard, part of the machine collapsed and Cory fell flat on his face. Luckily, nothing fell on Cory and he was not seriously hurt.
"Argh, this machine stinks!" cried out Cory in exasperation. Cory was grumbling and thinking about returning the machine when his wife Deanna came running down from upstairs!
"Cory, are you all right? I heard a loud crash!" asked Deanna.
Cory told his wife that he was okay and that he was going to return this defective exercise machine, when Deanna noticed the instruction manual on the table was still sealed and unopened. Deanna then chastised Cory and started nagging him about maybe he should try to use the instruction manual to assemble the machine. Cory protested and said that he didn't need any instructions, but Deanna cut off the conversation by saying, "Cory, get over yourself and just read the instruction manual!"
Cory sighed and took apart the machine. He opened the instruction manual. At first the instructions seemed too technical, but Cory kept studying the instructions. He slowly pieced the exercise machine together and found that the instructions became easier to follow the more he looked at them. In less than half an hour flat, Cory finished assembling the BB3KX machine and was happily exercising. Okay, he thought to himself, I am going to read the instruction manual first before I assemble anything ever again!
The Bible is our instruction manual for life. We need to read the Bible daily and use it as a guide for everything in our life, no matter how mundane the issue. We can do a lot more with God helping us than we can do on our own!
- Recommended reading: Psalm 119:1-5, 2 Timothy 3:14-16
