They are not impressive pens, Mont Blanc or other wise. My guess is they cost less than 25 cents to manufacture in bulk. The chew marks on the tops are from the many mornings, studying God’s word. Chewing not only on the pens, but on His word. So why are they important?
4 years a go I set out on a journey of faith. A Journey that would take me down a narrow road to an even narrower door. A journey of faith that would test my will and test my resolve to finish and complete a dream. To finally realize I have accomplished something that I dreamed about for a long time.
At the time I wanted to be a minister of God’s word, to preach the good news to all the nations. What I didn’t know is I had to be His Disciple, and in turn teach the good news and make disciples. For the longest time I had it all wrong.
Part of the discipleship process is discipline. Not a pleasant word in the context of the world. Most of the time when it is used today it is in the context of us doing something wrong. We therefore discipline to correct the wrong behavior. And 4 years ago, I didn’t want any part of being told I was doing something wrong. What I did not realize was the pure Joy I would have if I disciplined myself into loving Christ more and more every moment. Discipline became apprenticeship, apprenticeship brought training, and training brought me to Disciple.
So what in the world do these 2 pins have to do with all of that?
Shortly after I stared the Discipleship Curriculum at church, I made a conscious decision to use one pen for DC as long as the ink would last. This was going to be a small act of discipline. The first pen I used was the blue one. For 2 years, every underline in my bible, every question answered in the DC workbook, and every note taken in class. The blue pen. Ask my wife how many times I looked around frantically for the pen when it would go missing. Not that I needed the pen to complete the work, but I had made a point to be disciplined in the use of something small. Then shortly after graduating DC, the blue pen disappeared…
Fast forward a few months and it is time to start DC again, but this time I am on the other side. Now I am leading men to be disciples. Rummaging through the house for a pen, I found the purple pen. So for two years again, every underline in my bible, every question answered in the DC workbook, and every note taken in class. The purple pen.
It was about 3/4 of the way through the second 2 years of DC, when I tipped my recliner over to recover a toy that had been pushed under by my son. Out dropped the blue pen. I admit I got a bit excited. Why you ask?
When I misplaced the blue pen, I thought I misplaced a part of the discipline that I committed to in the beginning. Honestly I felt I had failed a small part of the discipline, I had done something wrong. So, I tried to start to use the blue pen for DC again, but it was out of ink or dried up… So I continued on with the Purple pen, and carried over into the current study on Dallas Willard’s, Divine Conspiracy. The purple pen ran out of ink the other night…
Still not understanding what 2 pens have to do with Discipleship to Christ? Absolutely nothing. What matters is for 4 years I committed to diving into Christ head first. I committed to disciplining my thoughts and actions to be be as much like His as any imperfect person can get. For 4 years the joy of discipline and doing what Christ commanded has brought me to a point where I have lived out a dream. But I only lived it out because of Christ. I am His disciple, I am his student. He works through me, as his instrument, to do the will of His Father. He invited me in to Him, and Christ has disciplined me through His compassionate all encompassing Love…
The journey is not over, and my completion as a disciple of Christ is not over. There will be many many more pens along the journey, but only one Christ. So with Christ I will carry on… with Christ I continue….
Mathew 25: 22-23 “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ 23“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
