Instructions, now that is an interesting word. Not a small word, but not a real big one either. However, it is a word with a lot of impact. I don’t think most people like it either. It has the implication of telling you what to do, and nobody seems to like being told what to do.

For guys, when we buy anything one of the first things we do is throw away the instructions. And any man’s worst nightmare is the phrase, “some assembly required!” That phrase translated to Manese means keep the instructions, you will need them later.

But when you really get to thinking about instructions, they are all around us. Signs for instance: Stop, Yield, No U-Turn, No Left or Right Turn, Turn Here, Exit, and, well, the list goes on. We have stoplights and also lights of different colors telling us to walk across the street or stay. As children we have people telling us instructions. Go, stay, stop, quiet, hush, go to sleep, wake up, make your bed, take out the trash, empty the dishwasher, pick up your shoes, or fold and put up your clothes. Being an adult is no different. At work our bosses give us instructions on what jobs to do, how to do them, and when those jobs are due. Spouses give instructions to each other. Also friends and coworkers give us instructions.

You see, instructions are all around us. Even machines give us instructions. Get in your car to go somewhere, and you better buckle your seatbelt or the fasten seatbelt light and bell go off. When your car needs gas, it has a light that comes on and tells you low fuel. Your phone battery starts to get low and a message appears on the screen telling you the battery is low and it needs to be charged.

Your body will even give you instructions. Getting sleepy and need a nap or to go to bed? Your body begins to yawn. Hungry? Your stomach tells you it is time to eat by your stomach growling (or roaring like a lion!). And even when you start to come down with a virus or are getting sick….your body will have aches and pains sometimes followed by a fever. Time to go to bed.

With all these, we still have a problem with that little book or booklet that comes in 57 languages and print so tiny you need a magnifying glass to read that will tell us how to operate effectively, assemble constructively, or hook something up successfully. We still throw that book to the side, because we know better!

Let us be honest, instructions and defiance to them are human nature. This doesn’t make it right, but it is just the nature of man. God told Adam and Eve in the garden not to eat from that ONE TREE. You can have fruit from any other tree but that one. And what did they do… they ate from that ONE TREE.

All of this pondering comes from my Bible reading one day last week. I was in Exodus and got to chapter 20. God gave Moses and the Israelites the 10 Commandments. Just 10 rules, instructions on living life and loving God. The people all overwhelmingly agreed to the rules. God calls Moses up the Mountain and in a period of 40 days the people already forget the very first commandment, instruction…no idols (Ex. 32). Aaron takes all the earrings of gold, melts them down, and out comes this calf that is now their god.

We just do not like people or things telling us what to do. But all those instructions are for our benefit. Parents instruct children, teachers instruct students, employers instruct employees, and friends instruct friends all to help them be better, learn more, or be safe.

Signs, equipment, automobiles, and electronic devices give instructions for safety, your convenience, and maximum effectiveness. The instructions are for our benefit not to inconvenience us or make us mad.

The Bible has been called an old book full of rules. I disagree. It is an old book, but it is full of instructions for us. The 10 Commandments are just a few basic instructions for us to have a good, full, and enjoyable life.

Jesus tells us in the New Testament that if we love Him we will keep His commandments (John 14:15) and His commandments are not burdensome John writes in 1 John 5:3.

God’s Word gives us instructions on loving one another, how to treat one another, marriage/ sexuality, raising kids, being a good employer/ employee, murder, government, death, and many more things.

But I am afraid that most people are like the typical man with God’s instruction book. We become a believer, we get a Bible, and are told to read the Bible to find instructions for life. Rather than read the instructions, we just toss them aside and think we got this and do not need the instructions. We can do this “Life Thing” on our own.

Truth is we can’t. And sometime down the road we end up looking for the instructions when we get into a tight spot and do not know what the next step should be. And somehow the Bible is there, laying in a corner on a night stand, sitting on a coffee table, or standing on a book shelf. It is just waiting to be read and give the answer.

Maybe we should remember the acronym BIBLE means Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

Following Instructions, Bro. Tim