Minutes From The Last Meeting

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n the same day, at the same time, in the same office building, two different corporations held an annual review meeting.  Both board rooms contained the boards of directors, the CEO’s, the presidents, the vice-presidents, and all the division heads. 

Both meetings were called to order, both meetings had a set agenda, and both meetings began with the reading of the minutes from the previous gathering.  The first corporation’s minutes reminded everyone of the great strides and gains accomplished during the last year.  Management had set forth specific guidelines for the company and they had been fully implemented. The result was a thriving organization that had surpassed all the expectations of both the board and the shareholders.

The second corporation’s meeting was much shorter.  It began the same way.  The secretary went to the platform, opened the record of minutes for the last meeting, took a deep breath, and made the following remarks into the microphone: “The previous meeting for corporate review lasted thirty-five minutes.”  That was it, the entire review!  There was no discussion about the company’s direction, no review of its history, no talk of its accomplishments, and no mention of the many failures it had experienced during the last year.  No one, including the members of the board, had any idea as to the discussion of the previous meeting.  They simply approved the minutes and went about their business.

It’s not surprising to learn that the first corporation ended its meeting with raises and promotions for its employees while the second corporation ended its meeting with a vote to dissolve.  Failure to review the past and to learn from it spells ruin for a company.  Just imagine how true this is of God’s people when they fail to review and learn from God’s word on a regular basis.

This is the lesson Moses impressed upon the people just before they crossed over to possess the Promised Land.  After forty years in the desert, the time for wandering was over and the moment for taking the land had arrived.  Before leaving Mount Horeb, Moses called the people together for a corporate meeting.  He reminded them of their exodus from Egypt.  He reviewed all of God’s miracles with them.  He reviewed the law with them. He pointed out their shortcomings and failures and he reminded them that some of their decisions had led to forty years of difficulty for the community. In essence, Moses read the minutes from the last meeting the people had with God.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 admonishes the people to remember God and never to forget his love for them. “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Like the Children of Israel, we too need to remember how much God loves us and how he is always working on our behalf.  We need to spend time in his word, meditating over it, listening to it, and putting into practice on a daily basis.  Far too often, our spiritual walks resemble the meeting of the second corporation.  We meet for a certain number of minutes but can’t remember what we discussed or what we learned from the Lord.  How much better would our relationship be with God if we met with him on a regular basis, spending quality time with him?

What do the minutes of your last meeting with God reveal about your walk with Him today?