Do what you know is right…

I was a teenager when I decided I should stop reading the Bible. I blame James. Or maybe my youth pastor, because he was likely preaching on James 4:17 and bringing this to my attention:

“Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (NASB).

Except it was most likely the King James version — or the “authorized version” of the Bible — because that was the bias of my childhood church:

^“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (KJV).

Either way, I figured I was better off not reading the Bible — for the less I knew about what was right or good to do, the less I could sin. Or the less accountable I was for my sin. Or so went my teenage logic.

This summer, I had the luxury of visiting a chiropractor and finding relief for my back. I learned some movements I should avoid and some exercises I should practice religiously to prevent the pain from recurring. When my pain was at its worst, my caution was at its best. I was careful not to lift without using my legs and engaging my core; I stretched before I got out of bed, after my workout, at work when the conference room was free for a couple of minutes, and again at home. As I felt better, my tendency was to forget. I lifted items I shouldn’t and forgot to stretch frequently. Then the pain would return, and I would want to make another doctor’s appointment to fix it.

“Physician, heal thyself,” commanded my husband. “You know what the right things are to do. Do them.”

If I only didn’t know…

I did return to reading the Bible as a teenager and continue reading it today, even James 4:17, and when I avoid the don’ts and do the dos, in my spiritual walk and in this battle with back pain, it’s effective. That one little verse has a lot of wisdom contained in it, pertaining to the physical as well as the spiritual.

Unfortunately, it does mean I am accountable for what I know. Even as a teen, I got that part right.

Posts for NaBloPoMo 2015:

1. Why I love my hairstylist…
2. To NaBloPoMo or not to NaBloPoMo? That is the question…
3. No AC November…
4. That dubious gift of an hour…
5. I can’t wait to be discovered…
6. Once an English teacher, always an English teacher…
7. Of mice and men (or when you give a mouse a cookie)…
8. When you replace people with possessions…
9. Do what you know is right…