Recently I met a man who cannot read. He doesn’t know I know. It took me quite a while to catch on. He is very skilled at covering. When eating out he will browse the menu and then always say to the server, “I’ll have what he’s getting.” If outside he will say things like, “The sun is in my eyes can you tell me what that sign says.” He is an excellent listener. He has honed this skill and never needs something to be repeated. I have tried to imagine how very challenging life must be for him. Use of the Internet must be very limited. I spent some time in Russia and I remember feeling handicapped because I could not read signs. That was for a short time. It must be most unpleasant for it to be like that all the time.
Moses must have been frustrated over and over because so very few of those he led out of Egypt could read. Visuals are very important to us. We are judgmental and hard on the Children of Israel for building the golden calf. But Moses was gone. They did not yet have the Ten Commandments and even if they did they couldn’t read them. We are blessed to have our Bibles. We can read and reinforce our faith when we have moments of doubt. We can delve into the treasures of God’s wisdom in His word. We can use our imaginations and walk with Jesus through the crowded streets as we read the Gospels.
We must not take the gift of literacy for granted. Even today there are millions of people who cannot read and cannot feed on the riches of God’s Word. If you were able to decode the words in this devotional you are, in the history of the world, very special.
Written by Roger Bothwell on May 1, 2013
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org