Not On The List

I teach Bible study in my home.
We begin our study in September and we end in May.
Some of us have been together over eight years.
God brings new women each year.

It is a privilege to teach this Bible study in my home.
There is something so cozy about sitting around the kitchen table and island.
When we outgrew that, I bought folding chairs to put in the adjoining family room.
When we outgrew that, I bought more folding chairs for the women God is bringing.

I write and type the notes for each time that we meet.
I go to the local UPS store to make copies of our notes.
We meet every other Wednesday for Bible study.
So, twice a month I go into the UPS store with my notes in hand.

Copiers tend to intimidate me.
I make thirty copies at a time and often there are three pages of notes.
I need the copies stapled together.
I usually ask someone to make the copies for me, as long as it is not over the lunch hour.

I walked in for the first time for this particular Bible study.
A new girl was working and she was not sure how to operate the copier.
I told her how glad I was that someone else gets a bit intimidated by the machine.
We laughed about it as she asked someone for help.

A young man came over to assist her.
I know you, he said with a smile on his face.
You teach something, he said.
What is it you teach again? He asked.

I teach a Bible study, I said.
Every two weeks I come in to make copies, I reminded him.
Yeah, I remember you, he said.
He began to show the new girl what needed to be done.

I watched him point to the different buttons she needed to push.
I needed a schedule of the dates of our Bible study printed as well.
I wanted that to be printed on bright pink paper.
He showed the new girl how to change the paper for this particular copy job.

I watched him as he removed my original notes from the copier.
He began to read them.
Lord, even for these few minutes, let him see You, I prayed in my head.
He was reading things on that paper that I prayed would help him in his own faith.

You never know how God will make Himself known.
God can even use little glimpses of Bible study notes to reveal Himself to someone.
God can use anything; God can use anyone.
God is sovereign.

I have two wonderful, homeschool girls who come to watch the children.
I want young moms to be able to come to Bible study, so childcare is in place.
The morning of our first Bible study, one of the homeschool girls sent me a text.
Do we have Bible study today? She asked.

These girls are very organized and reliable.
It is not like them to forget the dates of Bible study or get them mixed up.
Yes, we do, I answered.
I sent a reminder email on Monday, I added, which is something I always do before our study.

I checked my sent emails on my phone and looked at the list of recipients.
My two, sweet homeschool girls were not on the list.
I immediately sent a text back apologizing for the mix-up.
It was my fault, I said, as I told them what happened.

I used to send emails to their mom, who gave them the information.
I now have their personal emails so I took their mom off my list.
However, I never added them to the Bible study list.
They never knew.

I imagined how they must have scrambled to get ready and arrive on time.
Even though they would not admit it, I know that their morning was probably hectic.
They came in with their smiles and their willing hearts.
The children who have been here before know the girls, trust them, and love them.

The morning was wonderful.
God blessed our time together.
The children come up from our basement with smiles on their faces.
I know their favorite toys and make sure they are out and ready for play.

I thought about my mistake.
I thought about removing their mom’s name from my list with the intention of adding them.
I thought about how, in my busyness, I had forgotten to add their names to the list.
I caused the mishap with my oversight and they were too gracious to say so.

He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Revelation 3:5)

I made a mistake when I removed a name from my Bible study list and did not add other ones.
I blotted out one name but failed to add the two names that needed the information.
Praise God that once we are in the Lamb’s Book of Life, we will never be removed.
Our names will never be blotted out; no mistake will ever be made.

God does not make mistakes.
God does not remove any name that is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
There are no omissions or deletions.
There will be no scrambling at the end.

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21:22-27)

If our name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life, we are secure.
How glorious it will be when we finally see Him face to face.
Our name is written there, never to be removed.
No mistakes; no mix-ups; we are Home.