Sit at the feet of Jesus

Truth be told, during the past month or so my reading of God's Word has not been very consistent (You may have picked up hints of this in my blogs about the "Shred.")  It's not that I haven't spent some time in the Word of God or wasn't listening when my pastor opened the Word and explained it.  But it has not been a daily occurrence for me recently.

Today is my required Personal Retreat Day.  I decided that rather than reading through the entire Bible by the end of the year or some other discipline, I would, for a season, read Romans.  After slowly reading the first four chapters of Romans, I decided to also read some comments from others on the text. I glanced up at my bookshelf and there, on the shelf, was a devotional commentary by John G. Mitchell, one of the founders of Multnomah School of the Bible, the finest Bible college in the world.  Normally I don't read the introduction to a commentary, let alone a "Tribute," but today I did. The tribute was to Dr. Mitchell by Dick Bohrer, editor of the commentary and long time friend of Dr. Mitchell. In his tribute, Dick relates a conversation in Dr. Mitchell's office at Multnomah (which I was privileged to be in a time or two while at Multnomah) in which Dick wanted to know more about pastoral ministry.  The tribute is full of Dr. Mitchell's gems of wisdom for pastors, church leaders and those who follow Jesus regardless of their designated role in the local church.  (I was reminded how much my view of pastoral ministry was shaped by Dr. Mitchell.  One of the great joys of our early days as a couple was living in Dr. Mitchell's house the summer after we were married.  In fact, John and Mary lived there with us for a short time before they went fishing in Canada as they did each summer. We shared a few meals together.  Like Dick Bohrer, I was able to ask Dr. Mitchell questions about this life and vocation I was entering. But I digress.)

On the last page of the tribute was the gem that rocked my world and will, I pray, move me off center.  One sentence put my negligence back into context.  

Dick Bohrer asked Dr. Mitchell if he had any word just for him.  Dr. Mitchell placed his hand on Dick's and replied, "Some years ago, a friend of mine was on his way to a mission field in southeast Asia.  He had all his belongings on the ship and, just before departure, he called me and asked if I had a word to give him for China.  Let me give you that same word today.  I said to him, 'Sit at the feet of Jesus--and tell people what you see.' "