“Good and upright is the Lord; therefore
He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in
what is right, and teaches the humble His way.”
- Psalm 25:8-9
Michael Jordan, asked once about his secret to
success, didn’t give the answer you might expect. It wasn’t natural talent or
stellar teammates or hard work that set him apart in his mind (though these all
surely had a part to play.) “My best skill, he said, “was that I was coachable.
I was a sponge and aggressive to learn.” Even the greatest basketball player of
all time was always ready to learn more about the game.
That’s a lesson that every believer should
take to heart in their walk with the Lord. After all, it’s easy, once you’ve
learned all the important Bible verses and been a church member for a while, to
mistakenly thinking you’ve got this Christianity thing all figured out. And when
self-satisfaction sets in, it doesn’t take long for self-righteousness to
follow.
The psalmist reminds us that God is, among
many other things, our Teacher. Out of an abundance of grace, He “instructs
sinners in the way,” guiding His frail creatures toward eternal life. What is
required of us is the humility to be willing
to learn. Teachability, an openness to God shaking up your preconceptions, does
not indicate a weakness of character, but a desire to grow.
Every day you encounter situations, issues,
controversies, and people that test you and force you to decide what matters to
you. Faced with such tests, fight back against the defensive urge to plug your
ears and close off your heart. God wants to see you grow in Him, and He just
may be using those situations to show you a perspective you’ve never seen
before, a new corner of the kingdom He needs you to see. God is always ready to
be your Teacher, so may you always be ready to learn.
No comments:
Post a Comment