Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Learn for yourself not off bumpers


There are two schools of thought on how to learn. One is to read and study and the other is to try and try again. The adage, "experience is the best teacher" is the response of those who prefer the latter while the former is pretty self explanatory. "You can't do what you don't know."
My fellow toddler learned how to brush his own teeth by himself before I did. The fact that he could not reach the sink did not deter him - after all there was a bowl of water just toddler height in his home. I guess you could say, "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" in his case, especially since his mother sterilized   everything he touched up to that time. I, on the other hand, would not get on an escalator until I had watched my younger sister safely make her way to the top with out being thrown off, "caution is the better part of valor" I always thought. She got the praise and I got the ridicule because she - evidently - believed "no guts no glory."
All this to say we don't find wisdom in catch phrases, but in the understanding of God’s mission.
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” Luke 6:35
“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” Proverbs 22:7
Both make great quotes. One seems to favor co-dependence as a spiritual service while the other warns against becoming a slave to the generous person. Truth is found in reading the whole Word of God so you can put any quote in the correct context.
Certainly we can learn to live as God wants us to live from others who are proficient in teaching but it would be wise to have some of our own knowledge to add to the teaching. Reading the Bible is not just a spiritual discipline it is the best way for us to become wise in the way to live as God has always wanted His Creation to live.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24

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