A to Z
by Brandy Webb
This past week I volunteered at my children’s school to help organize the library. Organizing books is a type of meditation for me. I don’t think about anything except Dewey decimal and the alphabet. Plus, it makes me happy to see the finished product, organized bookshelves. I love books, especially organized books.
Well, it got me wondering if there was any spiritual lessons I could learn from organizing books. It may sound weird to some, but I try to see if there are spiritual applications/lessons to learn in my everyday life. I haven’t always done this; in fact, it is because of some of my friends that motivated me to start looking for God’s teachings in everything. I have some friends that can pull scriptures out in all situations. They don’t do it to show off; they do it to keep themselves alert to the fact that God’s Word is alive and active today and applicable to us always. Plus, I have some friends that look at things and ask “what is the Christian lesson I can learn from this?” It is a way to keep the light on inside us. As a result of my friends doing this I became motivated to see if I could find Christian lessons in my daily experiences. So, here I am writing a blog about a Christian lesson I learned from alphabetizing a library.
I do want to let you know ahead of time that my thoughts may sound elementary (no pun intended), but the first thought I had was the fact that Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev 1:8, 11, 17). He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Our Heavenly Father’s first born, and the one that we are to follow and to look to daily. The alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and the omega is the last. Therefore, He is our letter A and Z. Everything else in our lives should be organized between the two. Our actions and desires should take a backseat to the Messiah, our “letter A,” at the same time leading towards His return and Kingdom, our “letter Z.” I know this may sound very simple minded, but I like analogies.
The other thought I had was how much I enjoyed seeing the shelves organized. This made me realize my life needs to get organized. Our Heavenly Father is a very orderly being, and if you don’t believe me, just read Leviticus and all the rules of His tabernacle. Everything He created is orderly. We are the ones that create the disorder. It is like we go into His creation and mix all the letters of the alphabet. Sometimes I am guilty of placing “letters” M and N in front of A and mix Z somewhere in the middle. In other words, other things in my life become priority other than my God and my Messiah, and then I go further by seeking first selfish things rather than God’s Kingdom.
I, therefore, have disorganized my life and I need to pull all the “books” off the shelves and get them back in order. How I live should be pointing to Christ and leading to His Kingdom. When things aren’t that way it can cause confusion and God is not the “author of confusion but of peace” (1 Cor 14:33). Peace is awesome. It is tranquil and complete. It is like how my mind is when I order books, peaceful not thinking or worrying about anything.
Well, when our lives are spiritually organized, we have peace, the peace that surpasses understanding. For this reason, let us make sure that all things be done decently and in order (1 Cor 14:40). So, dust the “bookshelves” and organize the “books” of your life, always remembering who is first and the last.