Take and Read
“Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
— Romans 13:13-14 (NIV)
Augustine was thirty one, successful, and stuck. He had wanted to change for years and could not. Sitting in a garden in Milan he heard a child's voice chanting take and read, picked up Paul's letter and read exactly these lines. He wrote later that he did not need to read further. Within a year he had left his career in public speaking.
Maybe it is a habit nobody else knows about. Maybe a way of talking about people when they are not in the room. Augustine had been making stronger promises for years and none of them changed him. What changed was being handed something specific to put on instead.
Put Something On
- 1Name one thing you keep trying to stop by willpower alone.
- 2Instead of a rule, choose one specific thing to do in its place today, and do that.
Jesus, I have tried stopping on my own long enough. Give me something instead.
Instead of promising again, I will do one thing.
What is the take and read story?
Augustine described hearing a child chanting tolle lege in a neighbouring garden. He opened Paul's letter at random and read these verses.
Why does clothe yourselves matter?
It replaces rather than only forbids. The instruction gives something to put on, not just a list of things to drop.
What happened to Augustine afterwards?
He left his career teaching public speaking, was baptised the following year, and became one of the most widely read Christian writers in history.