I remember starting school. It was a fun time. Not going to school but seeing all the kids I had not seen all summer. D o n ’ t mi sunderstand me. I was a good student (State and Nat ional Honor Roll), but school for me was a great social affair (hard to believe, I know). It was fun catching up on what everyone did for the summer, where they had been, who moved away, and see who moved in. Also, who had changed. It seemed some of the kids grew six inches taller, the guy’s voices started changing, facial hair made an appearance, and the girls suddenly didn’t have any cooties!

It was a big deal getting new clothes or shoes. The jeans were stiff with starch, no holes in the knees and fit a little better than the old ones (definitely not the style today)! New shoes were also purchased and always hurt your feet and rubbed blisters. Mom would not have her kids starting school looking like bums.

Mom would go the Five & Dime store and buy our school supplies (no Wal-Mart at that time, maybe TG&Y, but not in our little town). Crayons, paper, pencils, rulers, glue and erasers. Not a lot. We got workbooks at schools. Pretty simple and with three other siblings, simple was good. In Junior High and High School things got a little more complicated, but Wal-Mart was in the town I lived in by that time.

Then, I had kids. Things got a tad bit more complicated. The school or store had the supply list. There was the usual paper (wide or college rule, spiral or notebook), pencils (No. 2 or mechanical), pens (red, blue or black), glue (stick or bottle), crayons (32, 64 or 128 count), markers (washable), colored pencils, graph paper, scissors (blunt or pointed), ruler (U.S. standard, metric or both), erasers, compass, protractor, calcula-tor, etc. And…even with the list, you still had to go back to the store after the first, second, and third day of school to get the items that were not on the list!

And, if you had gym class or athletics, Lord help you! Gym shoes, gym shorts and gym shirts. And if you are in a sport, there are shoes for that particular sport, practice gear and equipment, fees, and the list goes on and so does the cost. Then there is getting the kids to and from practices, going to the games, and waiting up late at night for the kids to get home from the games.

Things today are different. Now, you walk into an area Wal-Mart, and you can find an associate, tell them what school your child goes to, what grade they are in, and they have the supplies packaged for you! Talk about convenience. But, I am sure you will still have to go back a gazillion times to get items not on the list that each teacher needs for their particular class. And the sporting aspect is even more complicated than when I or my kids were in school. Now we start athletics so much younger, and there is about every sport imaginable.

When did school get so complicated?

Isn’t it nice that Jesus made preparation for heaven simple? There’s not a list of supplies, 90 places to go, 3 or 4 times. No, as I see it, Jesus simplified it for us. First, we must have faith. Hebrews 11:16 says “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to God must believe He exists…” So we must believe God exists. Next, we must confess Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9). It is kind of nice knowing there is not a list you have to pick up, then run all over creation to fill, only to find when you get to Heaven, you find out you missed something! It is only Jesus (John 14:6 & Acts 4:12). And it is as simple as A, B, C (admit, believe and confess).

Bro. Tim