Dave Ramsey, in his first-rate, 9-week course, Financial Peace University, has a great little exercise at the end of each session. It’s called the One Minute Takeaway. A large 1-minute clock appears on the screen. As it ticks down, participants are asked to answer two questions:

• What jumped out at you in this lesson?
  
• How can this affect your story?

Ramsey is acknowledging that you cannot possibly remember everything you hear in 60 minutes. However, writing down what most impacted you helps you focus.

So, let’s all agree that we are in an information deluge of Noahic proportions. We are also well aware of the high value we should be placing on the preaching and teaching of the Bible. The question is, how much mental bandwidth do we have? How can we improve the way we receive and retain the truth we hear?

Fact is, the amount of instruction you remember compared to how much you hear is miniscule. Research by educationist Edgar Dale shows that we retain about 5% of what we hear. Throw in some visual/video and you may bump it up to 20%. However, if you write it down by hand, (not, as it turns out, on your laptop) you can increase retention by up to 70%.

Think about that in regard to biblical instruction.

However, we’re not just looking for information retention, are we? We’re looking for life change. Well-known pastor and speaker, Andy Stanley, in his excellent book, Communicating for a Change, calls this life change versus information transfer.

Stanley says communicators should ask themselves two questions:

• What is the one thing I want my audience to know?
• What do I want them to do about it?

For listeners, these are essentially the same questions Dave Ramsey asks:

• What is one thing I have learned in this message/teaching?
• What should I do about it?

So here are my suggestions. First, take notes as you listen to the Word being preached or taught. Make it a habit. At the end of every preached message or teaching session, ask yourself those two questions and write down the answers. Right then. Before you leave.

• Write them down.
• Then determine to act on them.

This is also valuable in regard to teaching the Bible to children. Currently, as the Dread Year 2020 begins its countdown, a great many of us are still not able to have our children in Sunday School. But they’ve been watching Sunday School online, right? You’ve been reading to them at home, right? Take some time to ask your children (or grandchildren):

• What is one important thing I learned in this lesson/story?
• What should I do about it?

When it comes to God’s Word in the hearts of our children, we want not just information transfer but life transformation.

With them, as with ourselves, we want to live out what we’ve learned. With just a little intentionality we can make it happen.

Is this something you already practice? If not, would it be helpful?