What

So I did a short Bible study on the words “what should I do”? When I first did this word search at biblegateway.com I did not expect any verses to return. I was wrong. I read through the different verses, going to the entire chapter when needed to get the context of what surrounded the question. I saw a number of different situations where this simple question came up. SIMPLE?! Well maybe not. I’ll change that to “short” question. Sometimes the question was hypothetical and sometimes I got the impression it was asked not to seek an answer but to get the listener to think. And the list of those who asked the question is like a “who’s who” of the Bible:

Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do…”?

David prayed, “What should I do?”

Saul answered to Samuel, “What should I do?”

Absalom turned to Ahithophel and asked him, “What should I do?”

The king asked Haman, “What should I do…”?

Pilate asked the people, “What should I do…”?

An expert in religious law asked Jesus, “…what should I do…”?

Paul asked the Lord, “What should I do”?

In Hosea 6:4 the Lord asks: “What should I do with you?”

As I pondered this list I thought more and more about the question and less about the answer. What should I do?

Seriously, what should I do? When I’m asking this question it is because I’m seeking direction. I desire to be told something rather than discovering it for myself. I want the short cut and I want it with all the answers laid out before me.

Answer: what I believe I learned this morning is that the answer to this question requires action on my part. Finding the answer is part of the adventure. It is like looking for buried treasure. You don’t start by opening the chest, no you start by hearing it exists, then finding a map, then perhaps enlisting the help of others, then you have to go, then you have to dig…get the picture? Sometimes you might find the treasure and sometimes the true treasure was in the journey.

What should I do? Do the next thing, whatever that is. One step at a time, one conversation at a time, one discovery at a time. Do the next thing.