The Pencil

God wants to produce fruit through our lives, for His glory, to manifest His intentions for us.  2nd Corinthians chapter 9 talks about the importance of using what God has given us in order to bear fruit for Him:
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

There is a Biblical principle of sowing and reaping, which operates in so many areas of our lives, and that includes the application of our giftedness.  God has wired us in a certain way, and He wants to express His will through us - abundantly, as we are willing to be used by Him.  He wants us to cheerfully appropriate what He has provided for us to do - good works.  We don't work in order to come into the Kingdom of God; that's a free gift of salvation, but we do good works because we are in the Kingdom, in order to show our love for God and others, so that we might perform His will.

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God has wired each of us with certain abilities, intended to be used to carry out His plan.  Romans 12 says:
6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;
8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

Well, if you are the parent of a student or multiple students, this season does represent a shift for you - the promise of a new school year, new challenges, and tremendous opportunities.

In our family, well, this has been a most extraordinary time period.  For the second time in our lives, my wife and I have loaded up the van and sent a child to college.  The next nine months will undoubtedly be like no other, because we will have two children enrolled in college at the same time; the only year like it.

So, I bring you greetings from Nashville, where Beth and I spent the weekend sending off our son, Eric to Belmont University, which provided a variety of activities for parents before they diplomatically suggested to the parents that they leave campus and head home.  We also discovered that the road from Nashville to Montgomery may include a stop in Rome - Georgia, that is, where our daughter, AnnaBeth, is back in school at Berry College, after spending a summer doing an internship in Connecticut.  We'll be up there this weekend and will drive the vehicle required for the summer back to Georgia.   Think we might work in some time in the Big Apple?  Oh, absolutely!

Beth and I have continued to canvass an alternative term to the phrase, "empty nest," so if you have any ideas, please let me know.

Well, at Belmont the other night, we heard a speech given by Dr. Jeffrey Burgin, the dean of students at the university, who is an outstanding speaker.  He referred to a story, really, a parable, of an Italian pencil maker which I think can be applicable to those of us who have just placed students back in school or may do that someday.  I decided to look the story up online.

I found a version of the parable on the Gospel Faith Messenger website out of New Zealand - it goes like this:

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside just before putting him into the box. “There are five things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.
ONE: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand.
TWO: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil.
THREE: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.
FOUR: The most important part of you will always be what's inside.
AND FIVE: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.”

I want to share my own thoughts about this story, because the lessons are profound, especially when it's related to a student who is attempting to find his or her way in the world.  Obviously, the pencil can't work properly unless it's held.   God does not create us just to be laid on a table, sort of speak - He desires to pick us up, to hold us, to use us.  We have been made with great potential - to write a story that He intends.  He is the writer, we are the vessel through which He writes; He is the potter, we are the clay.

And, yes, because our Creator, our Pencil Maker, loves us, we will be sharpened - count on it - but a dull pencil writes less plainly and ultimately will not write at all.  We need the loving care of our Maker, our Sharpener, in order to make us more useful.

I want to call attention to the fourth thing, as well - the most important part is what's on the inside. A pencil without lead is, well, a stick of wood.  The lead is what does the actual writing.  So, it is with us - God has made us with various physical qualities, but there is inner potential with which He has gifted us; unique abilities that are yours and yours alone.  Those can be brought forth through a relationship with Christ, by allowing His Spirit to produce an incredible story.