I love school! If I could be a student forever I might just do that. It has been four years since I’ve been out of school and I hadn’t realized how much I missed it until I started taking the Covenants class with Urban School of Ministry. When I was in school I remember older students telling me how hard it was to get back in the habit of studying and doing school work. I would go away from these conversations thinking that it could not be that hard after all it was just reading and doing the homework which could easily be accomplished by paying attention in class and just putting in the effort. Now I would be lying if I said that my views were not judgemental at all, but at the time I thought it was pretty simple. Now four years later I’ll be the first to say it is hard to readjust to school work and I’m only taking one class, not to mention it’s study that I love doing, but it’s still tough. The desire or hunger to learn is there, but it was hard to figure out how to put the spoon to mouth after so long.
As I’ve been adjusting to the process of being a student I began to think about our walk as Christ followers. 1 Corinthians 3:1 talks about Paul addressing church in Corinth. When they were new believers or baby Christians Paul fed them with milk because that was what they could handle and digest, but now they should be ready for solid food, yet they are still going around acting like infants in Christ. If we never graduated from kindergarten but kept taking kindergarten over and over again we would never grow in our intelligence but would always stay at the same level. Instead they graduate us from one grade level to the next. Each grade level adds a new level of challenge by adding homework, study and material to keep us growing until we graduate and begin the process of learning again in a new area or venue.
As I studied 1 Timothy 1 last week it was apparent that the false teachers being addressed didn’t necessarily set out to be false teachers they just didn’t know how to handle the truth. I began thinking how many Christians do not know how to handle the truth. We know how to be fed, but not how to feed ourselves. Last night I was listening to a sermon and the preacher said that God only feeds you proportional to your hunger. I would say that while true, God only can feed you according to the utensils you know how to use.
2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” This was one of the first scriptures I memorized and until a couple years ago I hadn’t quite grasped what this meant for me as a believer. There are several grade levels that we go through.
1.) Go to Church. In church we are challenged, edified and encouraged by the Word. Our series at Urban are not just chosen at random based on a good idea but rather are chosen based on what God is speaking to Pastor Ben and prayed upon as well. The pastor is simply a mouthpiece of what God wants to speak to you both individually and corporately!
2.) Read the Bible. Reading the Bible for yourself will illumintate things in a new way. The book is simply incredible and is timeless. It was written for those living 2000 years ago, for yesterday for those living in the future and for you now. Check it out and you’ll know for yourself.
3.) Meditate on Word. Meditating is simply thinking upon what you’ve read for a period of time. It’s as if you are marinating the Word and as you do so it develops better flavor. It allows you to know both the simplicity and the complexity of God’s Word.
4.) Study the Word. Read it. Reread it. Underline or highlight parts that stick out to you. Journal why those parts are sticking out to you and what you feel as you read them. As you do so God can teach you what he wants to speak to you through the Word. As you develop this habit add Bible commentary into the rotation to better understand context and intent of the Word. This is something I’ve started to develop more in my life and honestly it is amazing how much more I get from the Bible and how much more sensitive I am to hearing God through His Word.
In school you don’t simply erase what you’ve already learned when you move on to the next grade level rather you simply add on to the learning you’ve already had and the same principle applies here.
My hope and prayer is that as you continue to walk out your salvation you would have a greater hunger for the Word and would be able to present yourself as one approved, a student of the Word, rightly handling the word of truth.
Live Life Extraordinary,
Alayna
Alayna, you inspire me. Aunt Pat