Eureka

            Eureka!  I discovered something better than gold.  I learned the secret on how to get more out of my bible.  Here it is: teach a children’s class at church.  Really!  You’ll be amazed at what you will learn from them.

            One Sunday morning, Ms. Christy and I had taught about not using “bad words” such as profanity to our second grade Sunday school class. We also told them not to call people mean  and hurtful  names.  One of the little boys came up to me and he was so excited, “Ms. Brooke!  Ms. Brooke! Did you know an angel wouldn’t call Satan a bad name when he wanted Moses’ body?”  I have to admit, I was speechless for a few seconds, which was unusual for me.  I had never heard that story and I was raised in church, so my first thought was to say, “No way.” Instead, I told him I didn’t know about it and I asked him where I could find it.  He didn’t know, so I promised to look it up and get back with him the next Sunday.

            I got my bible out and thought, “It’s not in here and I’ll have to disappoint him.”  Well guess what happened?  I found his story in Jude 1:9, “But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (NIV).  I was floored.  This child was right and I was wrong.  What else is in the bible that I had been missing my whole life? 

            I got 3 things out of this experience.  First, if the archangel Michael wouldn’t condemn Satan, who is pure evil, than who am I to be disrespectful to those who upset or hurt me?  Name calling or using “bad words” only makes any bad situation worse and it puts you on their level.

            Also, God gave us the WHOLE bible for us to study and not just the popular or big stories such as the Exodus, Jonah and the Whale, or David and Goliath. Its “chopped full” of amazing and wondrous words just waiting for us to read and soak them up.

            Lastly, as adult Christians, we should always be aware of our mind set.  I was somewhat prideful and immediately doubted his story.  I had studied the bible for years and this child was telling me a bible story I didn’t know.  Ouch!   Jesus put it very eloquently in Matthew 18:3, “And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”(NIV) 
 So open up your bibles and read with a zest as if you are a child with an open mind and heart.