Learn Your Lessons

While some students would have liked recess all day long, I would have preferred art class all day long. Therefore, skills that I should have paid attention to really did not concern me. Back in my early days of school, the first class I remember doing poorly in was penmanship. My handwriting is ugly! It is a combination of printing and cursive. The hard letters to write in cursive, I print. I also tend to pick up my pen often rather than letting the letters flow as they should. I can still hear my mother when I told her I only got a "D" in handwriting. I thought she would be happy that it wasn't an "F". Silly kid!

In my high school years I disliked math. More specifically, algebra and geometry. Why on earth would I need to know about algebra and gGeometry? Another class that I mindlessly attended was typing. Who knew that computers would come along and that the keyboard would be used daily, at least to text? Part of my work is emailing and writing many thank you notes. I get so frustrated because I am always typing the word "thank" incorrectly. I always seem to have to go back and correct "thnaks". This reminds me...I didn't think much of spelling either. Oh, how I wish I had paid more attention in school!!!

It may seem that as you and I read the Bible we can tend to over look some lessons that we may feel don't apply to us. Perhaps we think the lesson is not one we will ever use. (Careful - never say never!) Or we find a lesson that we feel, with great confidence, we have learned. No need to review, let's just move on. Or, to use a phrase that is often used these days - we feel it just isn't relevant. UGH!

There are books of the Bible I prefer over others. There are biblical topics that I like more than others. One may know all there is to know about prophecy but not know how to forgive, encourage or love. We may know how to do "sloppy agape" but never read the prophets. (Those are the pages that are often stuck together in the middle of our Bibles.) As my friend says- "We need to know our Bibles from Genesis to maps"! You never know when you will find yourself in a life lesson and need to recall and put into practice what you have been taught.

Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall keep it to the end.
Psalm 119:33

Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
For I believe Your commandments.
Psalm 119:66
Kathy Withers

Kathy's on staff at America's KESWICK in the Development Department. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 25 years. They have two adult children. Kathy is active in her local church and has previously served as a Teaching Director for Community Bible Study. Her passion is to encourage women to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ by finding and living out the truths of God's Word.

DIGGING DEEPER
James 4:4-6
Warning Against Worldliness
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"?
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."