Learning in the Word - August 13, 2008

Good morning! A cool breeze caused a shiver this morning; a reminder that it will not be long until the windows are closed at night. Yes, the start of school draws closer once more. I received the first saleskid last night. Saleskid? That would make you think of a small child, but this was a young man, a senior in high school if I am not mistaken, and the child of a brother in Christ. This morning, that meeting last night made me think of the 1970's, the decade when I grew from a child not remembering much about the culture, to a young man. The latter half of the decade I remember a great deal about, particularly in regard to music, movies, television shows and what I was doing. Most of my memories center around "me", and this is not too surprising since I have found it difficult to remember events in which I did not take part. This is where learning comes into play. We do not remember Jesus' life on this earth, we learn about his life and death on the cross. We cannot remember what Noah saw in his life, but we can learn about it in God's Word. The study of the Bible brings us wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge about life and decisions in ancient times, and wisdom to see that their options, to sin or not to sin, are very much the same as what we face today.

God sent us a bunch of stories about a bunch of folks who are long dead. One story stands out from the bunch in that the protagonist is not long dead. We learn from the stories and live for the One. As we grow older, particularly in our teenage years, we grow from remembering little to remembering much. However, as our experiences accumulate, we also run into limitations in our brain capacity. Stories run together until we may find that in comparing memories with a sister, brother, parent, or old friend, that a particular incident is not remembered quite the same by all parties involved. This may very well be why God caused some of those old time folks to write down their eyewitness experiences. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit upon Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John how might the stories of Jesus have changed over the years? Paul's letters teach us much about coming to Christ and salvation. Later Paul instructs us through his letters to others about living the Christian life and evangelizing. Finally, one of the more amazing parts of the Bible, we learn prophecies from the past about events that have not yet happened. This really sets the believers apart from the non-believers. A believer can look forward with eager anticipation to the coming events, a non-believer is frightened by the predicted events or dismisses them out of hand. Praise God for the Word that teaches! Just as the clouds have rolled in very quickly today, so the coming of Jesus will come upon us. Let us rejoice!

Rest in God's peace this day,

Bucky