The POINT of Learning

Monday, September 7, 2026

Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your statutes, and I will always keep them.  Help me understand your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart.  Help me stay on the path of your commands, for I take pleasure in it.  Turn my heart to your decrees and not to dishonest profit.  Turn my eyes
from looking at what is worthless; give me life in your ways.  Confirm what you said to your servant, for it produces reverence for you.  Turn away the disgrace I dread; indeed, your judgments are good.  How I long for your precepts!  Give me life through your righteousness.  Psalm 119:33-40

But to Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.  Romans 10:21

We start early with learning, sending our 5-year-old children to kindergarten.  In North Carolina there are roughly one and a half million children in the public schools.  With a $19.4 billion-dollar budget, that works out to an investment of more than $12-thousand dollars per year in each student.  If the old maxim of follow the money holds true, we believe in learning.

That statistic makes me cringe when I think of my attitude towards learning when I was in elementary and high school.  I thought getting up every morning before the sun was fully up, getting cleaned-up, fully dressed, and riding in the yellow torture chamber to the brick building, and being forced on threat of having my “permanent record” sullied with red marks, was a form of imprisonment; I was warehoused for seven hours while my parents danced-off to whatever they cared to do in their free time.  It’s odd, isn’t it…how my attitude got a severe corrective when I became a parent, responsible to house, clothe, and find a good school for my little prisoners?

If you re-read that passage in Psalm 119, you might catch the shift in King David’s attitude.  I caught the complete flip when he said he asked to be a good student, obeying God’s ways and commandments; he went so far as to say he takes pleasure in it.  (I wonder if that included the year-end finals?)  This could only have been written by a man who had sinned long enough, and big enough to understand the pain he was heaping up on his life.  If you’ve never taken a trip through David’s sins, let me give you the cliff notes, he did qualify as an adulterer, and co-conspirer to murder his mistress’s husband, and a cover-up that invited Watergate in Jerusalem’s palace.  David was a king with all sorts of power, but he was also a sinner standing in need of forgiveness from Sovereign God, Who, by the way, holds people accountable for their sins and rebellious defiance.

Fast forward a thousand years from David to Apostle Paul who quotes the prophet Isaiah, pointing the long, bony finger at Israel and saying that God says:  All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.  Again, the cliff notes on Paul and Isaiah…they’re pointing out that God is gracious, loving, and forgiving, but Israel was like a petulant school child pouting over having to ride the bus, sit through boring classes, and (gulp!) study for tests. 

Life’s not fair!  But “fair” isn’t the point of learning.  And neither is “learning” the point of learning.  It’s all about learning all about living…and living a life that is worthy of the gift of living.  It’s all about finding the center of God’s good will for our lives and camping out there as He gives us opportunities every day to serve Him, by serving others.  That’s the point!

For You Today

It’s no secret that life is tough, sometimes fiercely-so, and a lot tougher than a ride in the bus, or sitting through the class that never ends.  But there is a God Who loves you and has promised to never leave or forsake you.  He will even be with you when you take the finals!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Image by    Sabrina Eickhoff from Pixabay

Unless noted, Scripture quotes The Christian Standard Bible^© 

 

 

 

Monday, June 6, 2022

When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.  For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.  I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling.  And my message and my preaching were very plain.  Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.  I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.  

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Up to the time Paul came to Corinth he’d had more than his share of difficulties trying to spread the Gospel of Jesus.  It may be that people weren’t interested in hearing more deep thinking about religion and systematic theology of the hypostatic union of Christ.  Paul decided to leave behind all his theology degrees from seminary days with eminent Jewish scholar Gamaliel, and just let the Gospel truth be heard.  And when he trusted God more than Paul, the power of God was unleashed, and the church exploded in growth and impact.

This is a lesson all preachers need to keep on the front burner.  I’m not trashing theological education; I believe it is vital to the discipline of one’s mind and life to study hard, and be accountable to those who have gone before.  That said, the evolution of a preacher demands more and more of heart than head.

The picture of a little girl trying to fix the earth’s crack with bandaids looks ridiculous to any sane adult.  But to those of us who are less sophisticated, we might see only a big heart holding the bandaids…doing what she can to help.  Frankly, that is sometimes the only requirement God is waiting for to start a revolution.  One heart, simply trusting God, and purposfully beginning, is the deep secret of God’s way, hiding in plain sight.

For You Today

If you’ve got a lot of training about God, or anything else, or you’re clever, or got an IQ around 200, how much of that would you be willing to lay aside to speak the plain truth about who Jesus is, and what He did for us all?  That might just be enough to fix the cracks in today’s church.  Jus’ sayin’.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road with Jesus; have a blessed day!  

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Don't Raise a Fist

 

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

“I warned the proud, ‘Stop your boasting!’  I told the wicked, ‘Don’t raise your fists!  Don’t raise your fists in defiance at the heavens or speak with such arrogance.’”  For no one on earth—from east or west, or even from the wilderness—should raise a defiant fist.  It is God alone who judges; he decides who will rise and who will fall.  For the Lord holds a cup in his hand that is full of foaming wine mixed with spices.  He pours out the wine in judgment, and all the wicked must drink it, draining it to the dregs.  But as for me, I will always proclaim what God has done; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.  For God says, “I will break the strength of the wicked, but I will increase the power of the godly.”  Psalm 75:4-10

Like most people I laugh at goofy things I do, or other people do.  Humor is generally spontaneous and understandable.  We laugh when we get tickled.  One of the components of humor is absurdity.  When, for instance, you have told a two year old she cannot grab that snarling dog by the nose, and she whirls around to lock eyes with yours, and her icy glare screams I hate you, and if you don’t let me pet that puppy now I’m gonna wring your neck, you pompous idiot, well, you just gotta laugh!  It’s absurd that a two year old, who is only 30 inches tall, and weighing in at a massive 30 pounds, and not understanding the least bit of the danger of wanting something best left alone, is going to wring the neck of a 6’, 200lb father. And, if you’re not somehow tickled by that absurdity, you’d better check your pulse.

It’s humorous, but reasonably harmless to see the immature actions of a two year old; but with adults, not so much.  Adults, of any age, operating with an immature short fuse, and the power to lift a dangerous fist in anger, is not funny at all.

We have a lot of that in our culture.  Frankly, it’s in our nature.  And who is to say, definitively, exactly why it seems worse these days?  Perhaps it’s the relatively new platform that social media, or news media have given that entices and empowers the attention-grabbers towards outrageous acting-out, capitalizing on a perceived injustice.  Or, maybe, it’s just a grab for attention.  In the end, it’s still a two year old who hasn’t got a clue, but is going to demand his way.  The folly in it all, and the tragedy that follows is, in getting our way, will we be better off?

The current movement which clamours for an end to racism is a fact in point here.  An end to racism is a lovely thought, and one of which God heartily approves.  After all, God’s hand created Adam and Eve with the DNA chain that held the key to every form of diversity we now see in the human race.  To disparage one of God’s own, or any who are disparate from our tribe is to denigrate the Creator; we all hail back to the same set of parents in the garden. 

The problem with the movement du jour is not the rallying point of an end to racism, but rather with the methodolgy.  To use anger, the raised fist, either metaphorically (as in cancel culture), physically or verbally, against others and their motives, will not remove racism; rather it further divides those who are already different.  It puts those who push the anger on the same level as, say, Adolph Hitler, a monster with a heinous quest.  His quest was to push racism to it’s ugliest, purist conclusion – put all the other tribes to death, and then we’ll have a perfect society.  Adolph Hitler was just another two year old with a distorted sense of his own grandeur.

Granted, Black Lives Matter, and it’s push for an end to racism have a rightful support in their end game from any fair-minded individual.  But, unless the fist is laid down to open the hands to take my hand, and others (even the perceived enemy), they stand as just another two year old stamping his feet, pushing any hope of reconciliation down the drain.

And, considering the imagery God uses in today’s Psalm, the dregs of what’s down that drain will be a pretty rough drink to swallow when they get there.

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, forgive us our foolish ways of trying to correct violence done with more violence given. 

For You Today

Sometimes it seems like the more sophisticated and educated we get, the dumber we become.  God hates violence of all kinds…how many ways does He have to say that?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on this text:  Chosen Still and The Promise Over the Power

When Wisdom Calls

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Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Listen as Wisdom calls out!  Hear as understanding raises her voice!  On the hilltop along the road, she takes her stand at the crossroads.  By the gates at the entrance to the town, on the road leading in, she cries aloud, “I call to you, to all of you!  I raise my voice to all people.  You simple people, use good judgment.  You foolish people, show some understanding.  Listen to me!  For I have important things to tell you.  Everything I say is right, for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception.  My advice is wholesome.  There is nothing devious or crooked in it.  My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those with knowledge.  Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.  For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies.  Nothing you desire can compare with it.  “I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment.  I know where to discover knowledge and discernment.  All who fear the Lord will hate evil.  Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.  Common sense and success belong to me.  Insight and strength are mine.  

Proverbs 8:1-14^(NLT)

Wisdom is sometimes hard to define.  Among the synonyms you hear are understanding, knowledge, good judgment, insight, perception, astuteness, intelligence, acumen, prudence, sagacity, and just plain common sense.  And as hard as it may be to give an all-encompassing definition of wisdom, it is safe to say that you’ll recognize wisdom when you see it in action!

I recall a church board meeting many years ago where we discussed the thin financial condition of the church; we debated how to solve the problem long into the night.  One of the members, a successful businessman, had proposed a fund-raising idea that was, shall we say, rather shaky and shady, filled with some rather ethically-murky issues.  Another member, possessor of no college degree or even a high school diploma listened quietly, but I could see the wheels turning behind his solemn expression.

After turning the issue over multiple times, inside-out, upside-down, and making little headway, the successful businessman called for a decision, informing the board if we wanted to keep the church afloat it was now or never!  He further punctuated his firm belief that we must do something by pledging several thousand dollars of his own money to get started.  At that moment the other man, who had little financial means and limited formal education stood and spoke; he said:  Gentlemen, I’ve been coming here since I was a little boy, and I love this here church.  I would hate to see her go under…but I tell you, I’d rather see her go under than to see the church budget get fat and watch our souls sink into hell. 

My friend then sat down and was silent for the rest of the three minutes it took the board to scrap the proposal.  His “speech” was somewhat shorter than Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, and every bit as effective.  It was filled with the kind of Godly wisdom that says you must always strive for success and excellence, but the way you do things is more vitally-important than any success coming from what you do.

Incidentally, the following week we were notified by an attorney that a longtime member who had recently died left the church over $60,000 to be used in any way it was needed to keep the church doing God’s Kingdom work.

Wisdom can evade the possessor of Harvard post graduate degrees, choosing rather to reside in the most humble places.  But one thing can be said about the places you find genuine wisdom:  it never chooses to live where God’s Word is ignored.  Educated or not, you will never be wise unless you honor God.

For You Today

This would be a good moment to reflect on whether wisdom is growing in you; simply and honestly review what your relationship to truth is like.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com