Report Card

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 8:16-18 ESV

16 No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar  
or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand,  
so that those who enter may see the light.  
17 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest,  
nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.  
18 Take care then how you hear,  
for to the one who has, more will be given,  
and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has  
will be taken away.
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Listen to Jesus’ words once again.
Take a moment to not only stop and listen,
but to take what Jesus has said to your heart.
Ask yourself, “How is my heart responding to God’s Word?”
“How am I gauging my spiritual health?”

Jesus is saying that there will come a day when nothing will
be hidden, the condition of all of our hearts will be out in the open.
But, then it will be too late.

It reminds me of when I was in kindergarten and first grade.
I was a bit of a social bug and easily distracted in class
so I didn’t always put all of my focus on my schoolwork.
When I would get a bad mark on my paper,
I didn’t want to bring it home.
My teacher would put all of our papers from the week in
a folder on Friday afternoon. As I left the classroom I would
go through all of my papers and take out the ones that weren’t
perfect and throw them into the trash.
I was afraid to have my mother see my mistakes.
But at the end of the grading period the truth would come out.
My little report card and the teacher’s conference would reveal the truth!
Thankfully I learned my lesson. I felt guilty for hiding
the truth and deceiving my parents and I didn’t like getting a “U”
for unsatifactory on my report card, so I repented of my ways!

You may have been an entirely different student than I was.
You probably never would have hidden your papers from your mother!
However, now you may be distracted and not focusing
on God’s Word and not taking it seriously.
You may be trying to hide the condition of your
heart from the Lord and from others out of fear
or because you don’t really want to change.

TAKING GOD’S WORD TO HEART

We all have a habit of looking around at others to measure how
we are doing. We assess our godliness and obedience
as if God were grading on a curve.
He’s not.
(And even if He were, Jesus ruined the curve!)

He means what He says, and there will come a day when
the truth will be revealed. Today it may not seem as urgent,
but then it will really matter.
We are afraid to have God see what our hearts are truly like,
afraid to even look.

Better to look now. Ask the Lord for His help.
Ask Him for His mercy on you, a sinner.
Confess your apathy, your fear, and your unbelief.
Ask Him for His grace to do what needs to be done.
Tell Him you don’t want to stand before Him one day and
find out that you got a “U”, or worse yet,
that you failed to trust in Christ, and don’t get in.

Will you stop and listen and take His Word to heart?

What might it mean?

Change?
Sacrifice?
Submitting?
Giving up what you want to do?

MEDITATE or MEMORIZE

Write out the following verse from Luke 8 and recite it 3 times.
Take it with you throughout the day.

16 No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar
or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand,
so that those who enter may see the light.

PRAYER

Lord,
I confess that I don’t want to have to take your Word so seriously.
Help me live your Word not just listen to it and agree with it.
Help me really turn from my ways and walk in your ways.

In His hands for His glory,

Laurie
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