My son and I recently celebrated our birthdays. His is two days before mine, which is really great. We get to celebrate for almost a whole week!
This year, we got some great gifts. He got several footballs, an MP3 player, and lots of other cool presents, including the Madden football video game for our Wii. I also got some great presents, including new clothes and an iPad.
My son was very excited when he opened his video games. He couldn’t wait to come home and play them. When I opened my iPad, I was only somewhat excited. Yes, it was a great gift, but when I opened it, I had no idea what it was. It was only after I realized what I had, that I was truly thrilled to own it.
The next day, my son decided to try out his new football video game. He put the disc into the console, and after some crazy music for an introduction, the game started. There’s a good bit of set up to do at the beginning and it took a few minutes to finally get to the place where you are actually playing football. However, the game takes some skill with the remote, and was a little difficult at first. My son got very frustrated and walked away very upset. He said, “Daddy, it’s too hard!” 
I also had time to play with my iPad. Macintosh, who makes the iPad, does not include any directions with any of their products. They believe they are so easy to use, that there is no need for them. However, this is not true in my case. I tried several times to play around with it, but wasn’t sure how to do some things, so I didn’t do much with it for a few days.
There is a happy ending to both of these stories. My son plays the football video game like a pro. He is even learning more about choosing the right plays for different football situations. I have learned how to use my iPad and I’m not sure I can ever be without one.
In both cases, we were given something that was a little difficult for us to use at first. Our gratitude for the gifts, and our desire to understand and master them, drove us to learn how to use them. We now use them regularly and efficiently.
God has given us the Bible. Last week, I wrote about going to the Bible for answers. However, for many, it is like my son’s video game or my iPad. We simply don’t understand it, have no idea how to use it, and get frustrated when we try. However, we need to continue trying to understand it, study it, and use it in our lives.
All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV)
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