A Word About Repetition (Pt. 2)

“Don’t make me tell you again.” How many times in my growing up years did my little five-foot tall momma say that to me, I wonder. “Don’t make me tell you again.” 

Last week, I introduced the idea that one of the most important elements in a believer’s life is repetition. What we practice, over and over. What we tell ourselves, over and over. And yes, what we hear over and over. The very fabric and fiber of our lives takes its shape within the context of repetition.

When I was growing up, our house was comprised to two absolute sovereigns, my momma and my dad, and three underlings, my brother Dan, and my sister, Candy, and me. In our family structure, you might have called the three of us subjects under probation, or that old word serfs. We were viewed as “heirs apparent” (with emphasis on the ‘parent’ part of apparent, if you get me drift.) I’ve heard my dad, many times make a declaration about our family: “This here is a monarchy, I’m the monarch.” He wasn’t in the habit of repeating himself when it came to giving orders. Once was enough, when he gave a directive.

But my momma had more of an instructive bent to her approach to parenting. She didn’t have a problem giving instructions or insightful observations more than once. Reminders, you might call them. ‘Don’t forget to brush your teeth.’ or ‘Don’t forget to pick up your clothes.’ (She had to say that one a lot for my brother Dan, I remember.) But there were limits to her classroom patience. And when she reached the limit of how many reminders she wanted to convey, she would give an alert; a warning to listen up that had an ominous tone to it: “Don’t make me tell you again.” I learned early-on that I did not want to cross the line in the sand she had just verbally drawn for me.

A guy named King Lemuel talked about his momma in Prov. 31, as that chapter opens by telling us that what we are about to hear are words his mother taught him. Taught him, not once, but enough times that they stayed with him. Enough times that they were remembered. Enough times that they were worth writing down. All the ‘Don’t forget to’ reminders, to help the king live a good life. And she described a godly wife, too. Almost as if she was saying, “Pay attention to these qualities when looking for a bride.” Such patient, godly teaching.

I wonder, though. King Lemuel doesn’t mention it, but I wonder if his momma ever came to the point of saying, “This is important, and don’t make me tell you again.” Who knows. Maybe that’s why he wrote down Prov. 31, so his momma wouldn’t have to tell him again?

I’m Ken Jones, and this has been a Classic State of Mind. I love hearing from you. All our previous segments of Classic State of Mind are on our website, kenjones.direct. And My newest book, “Soul Mirrors” is also now available on Amazon. You can read more about on my website: Kenjones.direct.