At the Feast, we are given a wealth of spiritual food. We have been encouraged to follow the example of Samuel, who didn’t allow a single one of God’s words to fall to the ground (1 Samuel 3:19). Samuel became a great prophet by absorbing all of God’s words and working to apply them in his life.

The Apostle Paul also taught the importance of taking God’s Word and being diligent to use it. He wrote, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Hebrews 2:1). Study the Greek words, and you see that Paul is saying we should give exceeding, abundant attention to what we have been taught, to adhere to and follow it, to hold it in mind, and not to let the truth or the opportunity for change and growth carelessly pass us by. Becoming a king-priest requires deliberate effort, absorbing every crumb of teaching and diligently applying it to produce growth.

After we return home from the Feast, we will remember some of what we heard. Most of us would admit that we need to review our notes to recall the details in each message. This raises an important challenge. How do we review all this teaching and harness it most effectively to bring about positive change? However we approach this task, it will take effort. But the fruits of this labor will change your life. The extra growth and works we produce will impact us now and grow our reward in God’s Kingdom.

If we are prepared to invest some time, then there are some simple steps we can take. Here is one way you can use your Feast notes to create an action plan for change. This is not the only way to apply notes, but if you don’t have a method you regularly use already, then adopting this approach will definitely accelerate your growth as a Christian. It gives you something you can review regularly and check your progress.

Draw up a table in a notebook or on a spreadsheet. Create three columns with the following headings: Action | Subtask | Due Date. In the Action column, jot down a list of significant activities you want to undertake over the coming year. To make each action easier to achieve, break it down into Subtasks that are easy to do and not daunting in scale. Against each subtask, enter a Date by which you plan to complete it.

Now, choose a sermon from your Feast notes and read over it carefully. Look at the instruction and evaluate how it relates to you, the way you live, and the life of your family. You will see several elements in the message or direct actions you could take to apply the teaching and thus grow. Take these and convert them into small, specific parts you can do in your life and write them down on your action plan.

The process of distilling actions from our notes is so important that you may consider doing it on your knees, asking God how you should apply the instruction in the notes you are reviewing.

If you follow this process for all your Feast notes, perhaps taking five or six strong actions from each message, then you will have a long list of actions to help you and your family to grow in the coming year.

It would be a good idea to prioritize all the actions and space out some of the dates through the year so you aren’t overwhelmed by trying to do everything in the next month. It’s often more effective to focus on one item or a small number of items at a time, complete them, and then move on to the next few. Completing tasks is not only productive, it also provides us with a sense of accomplishment and motivates us to move on with our list.

You should ideally set aside a regular time slot each week to review your action list, to tick off items you have completed, or to adjust dates if you miss a deadline.

This approach may seem onerous and a bit like hard work, but it will produce fantastic results. It is easy to forget or just skip over things we have written in our notes without really giving thought to deliberate action we should take. God teaches us that we must be diligent in capturing all the words we are taught, then in translating these words into action. If we do, we are guaranteed to reap benefits in this life and in the next.