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3 Points and a Cheesy Poem

Dr. Scott Sherwood spoke at the NBC Chapel on March 30th on the topic of where to put our attention. He gave a disclaimer right off the start. He said that this devotional would have three points and end with a cheesy poem! So, we were all prepared as we listened. One could not wait to get to the cheesy part.

 Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” This does not mean we get everything we want. He wanted to play on a basketball team but that door never opened for him. This verse is all about God’s kingdom, not self-focused.

Dr. Sherwood’s father had a lot of confidence in joining the motor club, American Automobile Association (AAA), and receiving their services for all his cars. When Dr. Sherwood was old enough to have his own car, his father gave him AAA as a gift. One could always get help from AAA if there was a mechanical car problem or a flat tire along a trip or if one got stuck on the side of the road.

AAA reminded Dr. Sherwood of the plan God has given us. Dr Sherwood called it the AAA plan for eternal achievement.

Focus: The focus of the verse is us being kingdom focused. Even if we don’t get the particular things we ask for, God gives us something better.

Attitude: Ask, seek, knock and the door will be opened to you is a positive and sure verse. With immense faith, we ask and He will, we seek and He will, and we knock, and He will …open that door for us. Our attitude reflects what we are focused on. As the saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out.” We can control our attention, and it determines our attitude. You sow a thought, you reap an attitude. You sow an attitude, you reap an action. You sow an action, you reap a habit. You sow a habit, you reap character. That is our destiny.

Action: Waiting on God is serving God. Ask, seek and knock is active. Waiting is not passive. It is serving God, while He does His part. We need to hustle and obey, and trust that God is doing His job. We can see that in the workplace. Why did God bring NBC into being? The mission of the school is the focus. The mission is what drives the details of our daily working out of the mission. We hustle and obey, and God brings students and resources to NBC.

We all like to see cause and effect. However, in Hebrews 11, they never saw the promise fulfilled, but they were fully invested. Focus + attitude + action = Achievement

To close, here is the cheesy poem entitled, A Tale of Two Frogs, that you have been waiting for from the beginning of the devotional!

Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl.

One was an optimistic soul.

But the other took a gloomy view,

“I’ll drown,” he cried, “and so will you.”

With a last despairing cry,

He flung up his legs and said, “Goodbye!”

 

BUT the other frog with a merry grin,

“I can’t get out, but I won’t give in,

I’ll swim around until my strength is spent,

Then having tried, I’ll die content.”
 

Bravely, he swam, till it would seem,

His struggles began to churn the cream.

‘Til on top of the butter, he finally stopped,

And out of the bowl, he happily hopped.

 

What of the moral? ‘Tis easily found,

“When you can’t get out, keep swimming around!”

 

So, keep kicking and don’t give in. We are a people all-in to His cause.

Dr. Scott J. Sherwood, President Nazarene Bible College

Published: 04/08/2022

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