R is for REVISE

There were two times of the year that, like most kids, I didn't look forward to with any excitement or pleasure at school, the dates of the school exams. Normally they were held either just before Christmas or in early January and then again in June, but the further you moved through the year groups the more exams and test seemed to appear until there was hardly a month went by that some form of revision wasn't necessary. Occasionally a few of the more inconsiderate teachers would spring a surprise test on the class with no prior warning and therefore no chance to revise so at least if you did poorly in one of these you could always claim that you never had the chance to properly prepare but there were no such excuses for the Christmas and summer exams though sometimes there were genuine reasons for poor performance. I remember around about second year having to withstand a torrent of abuse from a teacher, not all of which was verbal, because my Biology score was less than impressive though it never seemed to enter his head that, along with another student who had recorded an equally unmemorable result, we were the only two pupils who had completed the first term without a text book, mainly due to his miscalculations when ordering, so revision was virtually impossible. But you don't really say that when you're twelve!

I'm sure you had you own method of revising for exams and I guess it depended on the subject, just how much you could prepare. And there was always an abundance of those little revision cards in clear plastic envelopes and also larger booklets that covered the main points. Sometimes I seemed to learn more from the published revision material than I had done all year in school and it was always a bit disconcerting that some teachers were recommending such booklets and cards, the closer we got to external exams that just happened to reflect a little more on the success or otherwise of their teaching. Yet no matter how much revising was done and how well prepared you thought you were, the examiner was always able to just pinpoint those areas of which you were less certain and, just occasionally, ask a question on a topic you hadn't covered at all. It's a strange phenomenon but we usually don't spend as amuch time on those parts of the syllabus that we think we know well, only to find that some of the most important detail deserts us in our moment of greatest need!

At school, in earlier years, mum was always around to help me brush up on my knowledge and understanding but as I moved through secondary school, she knew she could be of less help when I began to study things that were even new to her, but I still managed to do a lot of the revising with the television or the record player on in the background. By the time summer exams arrived, the sun was splitting the trees and the hot spell usually lasted until just after the last exam, so I often revised outside the back door, reclined on an armchair that I had dragged out for the occasion, with a cup of tea not too far away from my right arm. Later on, at university, I found myself, along with hundreds of other students, passing the revision hours in one of the city's parks, stretched out in the afternoon sun, with thoughts of revision not always uppermost on my list of things to do. Still, how quickly those days pass and I always have sympathy for the hordes of students who are spending their Christmas holidays getting ready for exams in the next few weeks and who, like I did once, wondering when it will all end. The answer of course is 'quicker than you can ever imagine' but it's hard to see the light when you're in the middle of the tunnel.

The one things about all forms of revision, whether you decide to use commercially available books, programs or cards or just make your own notes, is that they all usually strip down everything you have learned to just the basic facts that you need to know to get you through.

The Bible has sixty six books, full of all sorts of facts, figures, festivals, fall outs and family trees and while it is good to have read it all, it's more important that we know the basic facts especially about the future. So essentially here is what I think we need to revise.

God created everything, including man, who was made to worship the Creator, but who unfortunately sinned right at the start and became separated from his maker. But God still loved his human creation and planned a way back for man so that he could again live with Him. That involved coming to the earth as a human baby, experiencing all the emotions and turmoils of life without ever sinning even once and ultimately dying for the sins He didn't commit. But by rising from the dead He defeated the one thing that all of us must face and even though our bodies eventually give up, if we believe in Him, our souls never die but go to live with Him for ever, in Heaven. That's the future but it doesn't happen if you haven't got your preparation right so I guess it's time to revise and make sure you're ready to pass His test.