Step Three

Sunday night our current Bible College senior, home from Heartland, spoke using the following as his scripture reference:

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. (Ecclesiastes 9:10 KJV)

While his sermon was absolutely applicable to our daily lives, and he gave examples along with other scriptures to exhort us to do our best, another facet caught my attention. He mentioned that he’s learned three things about work:

1 – Communicated expectations
2 – Boundaries and limitations
3 – Assessments

That is so similar to what our Software Quality Management testing used. The three things that made up our structure were:

1 – Defined Requirements
2 – Maximums and minimums of the system
3 – Results

It stands to reason that the first two items are extremely important. We need to know what we are supposed to do. Without that, there is chaos. God provided across millennia what we are to do, and boiled it down to an essence in His word:

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV)

Through His Son, He confirmed this again, then explained what the remainder constitutes:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40 KJV)

In the preacher’s example, we assess what worked, what didn’t and plan accordingly for the next time. Testing comes down to a simple pass/fail result, as do our lives. There is season and time appointed for us:

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27 KJV)

The Bible doesn’t speak of second chances. The rich man and Lazarus brought about no change for either of them, and a conclusion from Abraham:

And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (Luke 16:31 KJV)

Ezekiel knew of such people:

Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 12:2 KJV)

What do we see? What do we hear during this assessment? What will be the result?