The Parable of the Pencil

This morning I did chapel at the Lansing Adventist School. I find that object lessons are the best way to keep the attention of the students, so I decided to share with them the parable of the pencil. The spiritual lessons are so profound I decided to share them with you.

THE PARABLE OF THE PENCIL

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. There are 5 things you need to know, he told the pencil, before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.

ONE: The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.

As a child I had many favorite pencils. Some were brightly colored, one had the words “Jesus Loves Me” on the side, and one was hot pink and ended in a heart-shape. But no matter what the pencil looked like ont he outside, what mattered most was what was in the inside.

“Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing--but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” 1 Peter 3:3, 4.

“For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

A beautiful body, athletic build, fashionable clothing -- all are meaningless to God. He is only concerned with what is in the inside -- a character like His own.

TWO: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.

A pencil is worthless on its own. If left on the desk it can accomplish nothing. It might want to write an inspiring poem, a special letter to a friend, a beautiful piece of music, or a thrilling book. But it can’t do any of these things until it is picked up and held in someone’s hand. If the pencil represents us, the Someone would be Christ. There are two lessons to be learned here.

DEPENDENCE – “I can of my own self do nothing.” John 5:30 – Jesus said that! If He was dependent on His Father daily for everything (direction, power, wisdom, etc.), how much more us?

SUBMISSION – What if the pencil rebelled? What if it tried to take over? What if the pencil refused to write? The pencil submits itself to be used however the writer choses. So God wants us to submit willingly to His plan for us. We must not complain or rebel.

THREE: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4.

It is not usually my first reaction to get excited and happy when trials happen in my life. But James reminds us that just as the pencil is made better by sharpening, so our characters are perfected and our faith strengthend by trials.

I remember a Friday a few years ago when I was getting ready for a huge church outreach project for the following day where we were to pass out 4000 door hangers in a few hours. With much more preparation to do, I got up early and headed to the church in the middle of a rain storm. Then all of a sudden my back seat window went down and wouldn’t come back up. The power window button had broken. As the rain poured in on my seat, I asked myself why it had to chose this busy day to break. I didn’t have time to take my car to the dealership to get it fixed! At that moment my friend Hamdel called and asked in a cherry voice, “How is my sister doing?” I wanted to cry I was so stressed and overwhelmed. He reminded me to look up and pray. We claimed Isaiah 40:31. A friend drove me around until I could get my car picked up and in the process they discovered something else wrong with my car that would have been dangerous if not fixed. That evening I remembered this quotation: “Jesus does not call us to follow Him, and then forsake us. If we surrender our lives to His service, we can never be placed in a position for which God has not made provision.” Gospel Workers, p. 263.

FOUR: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness ... the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:9, 7.

Because we are sinners, we will make mistakes sometimes. But Jesus has promised an eraser to cleanse and wipe away every sin – His own blood. And just as pencil eraser wipes out the record of mistakes, so His blood will wipe out the record of our sins. Praise God for that!

AND FIVE: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.

“You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all ... written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” 2 Corinthians 3:2, 3

Wherever we go, wherever we are, we are leaving a mark on this world. We are writing a story about our God – one that will either lead people to Him or away from Him. We might be the only Bible some people will ever read. What will the read on our faces, in our behavior, our attitudes, our words, our actions?

Remember:

• Don’t pick and choose when you want to write because you are always writing consciously or unconsciously.
• Don’t get discouraged if no one seems to be reading the story about Jesus you are seeking to write with your life – just keep writing.
• Some people will read and accept Jesus and His message because they read the mark you left in this world.

The pencil understood what the pencil maker had said and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart. Now replacing the place of the pencil with you; always remember these lessons and never forget, and you will become the person God desires you to be.