Take Note

I got a flashlight last year and when I went to use it, it would shine for several seconds and then turn off. It was very frustrating. I was using it in December to hang my Christmas lights on my fence. It would shine and then just randomly turn off. I was getting increasingly frustrated. I would get ready to squeeze the trigger on my staple gun and the flashlight would turn off. I finally took the thing into my garage to examine it. I checked to make sure it screwed tightly together so that the batteries were making the proper connection. Yep. Everything was good. I wondered if it came with cheap batteries. Nope. They were fine. I thought to myself, “What is wrong with this thing? Did I just get a dud?” That’s when I took note of the bright yellow sticker on the flashlight with big red exclamation points on it. It had seen it before. I may have even skimmed over what it said, but this time I took note of what it said. It read, “NOTE: Before actual use, DEMO MODE must be deactivated. Remove batteries for 5 seconds, then reinsert batteries.” Problem solved.

I had seen that bright yellow sticker before. You couldn’t miss it. The manufacturer had intentionally put it on the flashlight and made it unmistakable. In that moment, I sensed the Holy Spirit speak to me. “You know, that’s like life. If you don’t take note of what I’ve said, you’re going to have trouble. And I’ve made it obvious.”

I’ve been thinking about that. Think of all that is happening in the world. There are wars. Politics in America are a mess. Our nation is divided like most of us have never seen before. Inflation is out of control. Greed and sexual promiscuity are accepted as normal, bringing daily destruction and death to untold relationships, businesses, livelihoods, ministries, and families.

Yet, despite all of the confusion and chaos around us, we can live in peace with the assurance that God has given us what we need to successfully operate in obedience to Him no matter the circumstances. Second Peter 1:3 (NLT) affirms to us, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.” (emphasis mine) Just like my flashlight warned me to “take note” or it wouldn’t work properly, so God has told us to seek Him first or things won’t work out properly. We’ve got to take note of what He’s said.

God regularly points us to Himself through things like creation. “They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.” (Romans 1:19 NLT). That word translated “obvious” (“evident” in the NAS), is the Greek word phaneroo. Louw and Nida define it as “causing something to be fully known by revealing clearly and in some detail.” God has made it clear that following Him and obeying Him is the path to the life that He has intended for His creation. There is no other way.

Many people are trying to live life without “taking note” of what God has said. But He has made Himself known that we might turn to Him. The only answer for the struggles of our world, nation, communities, families, and individual lives is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ! If we will humble ourselves before God and repent, He will hear us from heaven, forgive us and heal us (1 Chronicles 7:14). Take note!