IMPORTANCE OF DOCUMENTATION
1 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.
2 NOW MOSES WROTE DOWN THE STARTING POINTS OF THEIR JOURNEYS AT THE COMMAND OF THE LORD. AND THESE ARE THEIR JOURNEYS ACCORDING TO THEIR STARTING POINTS:
3 They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians."
Numbers 33:1-3 (NKJV)
God loves documentation, thus, in most of the things done in the life of His people, He usually instructed them to document it. We have the written Word, the Bible, today because of documentation.
Whatever you are being taught, endeavour to document it. When things you are taught or learnt through observations are documented, the knowledge would be preserved and be taught to others (1 Corinthians 10:11). Memory cannot be trusted that you would be able to remember all the events in the journey of your life and ministry. Whenever God spoke or revealed a thing to anyone in the Bible days, He would tell the person, write the vision or what you have seen: "THEN THE LORD ANSWERED ME [Habakkuk] AND SAID: “WRITE THE VISION AND MAKE IT PLAIN ON TABLETS, THAT HE MAY RUN WHO READS IT" (Habakkuk 2:2 NKJV).
11 SAYING, “I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, THE FIRST AND THE LAST,” AND, “WHAT YOU [John] SEE, WRITE IN A BOOK AND SEND IT TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES WHICH ARE IN ASIA: TO EPHESUS, TO SMYRNA, TO PERGAMOS, TO THYATIRA, TO SARDIS, TO PHILADELPHIA, AND TO LAODICEA."
19 WRITE THE THINGS WHICH YOU HAVE SEEN, AND THE THINGS WHICH ARE, AND THE THINGS WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE AFTER THIS."
Revelation 1:11,19 (NKJV)
What we see in the above Scriptural passages shows us the importance of documentation—God loves documentation and wants it.
As you are going in your Christian journey and whatever assignment given to you, you would do well to cultivate the habit of putting down your thoughts and the events that happened in your life and ministry.
If you are gifted in teaching, you would innately or intrinsically be inclined to writing or documenting of things; your thoughts and the happenings in your life and around you—in your assignment or ministry. Some who do not value knowledge or are not inclined to knowledge might not see this as an important thing but a person who craves and values knowledge cannot but be inclined to write or document.
The journeys of the Israelites from Egypt were documented by Moses, at the command of the Lord: "NOW MOSES WROTE DOWN THE STARTING POINTS OF THEIR JOURNEYS AT THE COMMAND OF THE LORD" (Numbers 33:2 NKJV). If documentation were not important to God, He would not have commanded Moses to do it.
Note:
I. When events and the doings of God are recorded or documented, you would be able to see and know the faithfulness of God.
II. You would be able to remember His goodnesses and faithfulness when an appraisal is being done on your walk with God and your work for Him.
III. Through documentation you would be able to tell the oncoming or rising generation about the faithfulness of God, what and what He had done in the past, and as a result of it, faith would be stirred in them to put their trust and faith in this God (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11).
IV. And not only that, those who read things that were documented would be able to put their faith in God for the repeat of whatever they have read that God did in the things documented or recorded. Without documentation, Christian faith would have been nothing by now, because all we are witnessing as miracles today are repeats of things God did in the Bible days (Romans 15:4).
Thus, the books and all other means of documentation we have today would serve the purpose of educating and stirring the faith of the future generations about the doings and greatness and faithfulness of God. If nothing is documented today, there would be no future for the Kingdom of God on the earth.
There are some believers who do not understand the importance of documentation, they belittle it, but the importance or power of media, books, and documented material cannot be underestimated.
My admonishment to the person reading this:
I. Cultivate the habit of reading extensively; both the Bible and the books of other proven authors—books that would strengthen your faith and edify you in God, not just any book.
II. There are number of things about reading:
a. Readers are leaders. When you know better than others wherever you are or find yourself, it confers on you the responsibility of leadership.
b. Whoever is reading usually has expansive, broad and extensive, knowledge and wisdom. They always know beyond their age, and beyond their immediate environment and locality. They operate with the wisdom of others which they have learnt over a period of time.
c. What they read would begin to show after a long period of time in consistent reading.
I have seen some people who desire to write, but the truth is, if you are not a reader, you cannot be a writer. What you would write as a writer are the things you have read that mixed up with your own personal experiences—they are the things you put down as articles, books or whatever. In other words, what you write as a writer are the things you have read but not in the same way or form you had read them; because they have mixed up with your own personal life experiences and you are able to present them in another way or form apart from the way you read them.
Besides, there is a group of people whom you are assigned or sent to reach for God, such people would be able to resonate or relate harmoniously with your material or your writings when they see and read it and it would be a great blessing to them.
Thus, If you you are being burdened or impressed in your heart to write, do not shy away from it—it is a grave or significantly serious responsibility. Cultivate the habit of putting down your thoughts. There is a purpose for it! It is a great instrument in the hand of God, and a strong way to propagate His work and Kingdom on the planet earth.
Peace.