LEARN
”…that
they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and
that they may teach their children.” Deuteronomy 4:10“…that he may learn to fear the LORD his God…” Deuteronomy 17:19
Ever
met people that just take a bit more time to come to know? You know? Those ones
whose idiosyncrasies or eccentricities are the first things you notice? Or, those who are so quiet or introverted
that even a basic conversation is a labour?
My grandparents told me that many times the best friends we make in life
are those whose friendship we have to work for.
I have made several friends like this through my life. It took eight years to earn the confidence
and love of one of my dear friends, but it was well worth it.
Learning
to make a new friend is only one example of what these verses are telling
us. Another example is how we learn a
new skill – step by step with victories and failures. Or, how we learn to obey our parents – by
their careful and consistent training and our observation and application of
what we have been taught. Whichever
example you prefer, the truth is, learning takes effort.
Learning
to fear the Lord is the same. It doesn’t come automatically to us upon
salvation. We are born in rebellion and
whether we recognize it or not, we continue to live from that basic
platform. It affects our faith, our
decisions, our thought processes, and yes, our obedience and respect to
authority. God knows that. That is why He makes the effort as well.
In
the Old Testament men were to obey God by faith shown through the outward
exercise of temple rituals and law. God
wanted man to learn of Him as Jehovah, the Almighty God, the Lawgiver and
Provider. In the New Testament, by
sending His Son, God invited man to learn of Him more personally – by touch,
visual example, and verbal interaction both audibly and then inwardly.
From
the day of man’s creation to this current age, God has been trying to teach man
about Himself. God is the friend who
wants to be understood, loved and respected.
Learning God gives you a friendship of eternal benefit. Are you making
the effort?
LEARN
When
thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not
learn to do after the abominations of those nations. Deuteronomy 18:9Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways and get a snare to thy soul.” Proverbs 22:24-25
Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.” Jeremiah 10:2
The
word “heathen” was one of my paternal grandfather’s favorite words to describe
bad behavior. He would often remind my
sister and me to, “Stop acting like a heathen.”
Since behavior is something we learn it is not surprising that our
Heavenly Father also warns us about acting like, or learning the ways of
“heathen”.
From
these three verses we can see three basic areas that need our attention. First, the children of Israel were warned not
to learn the sinful ways of the people around them. They were not to “conform to the
culture”. They were to be lights in the
darkness. The manner of life for them
was to be God-centered and in stark contrast to the heathen world in which they
were entering. God says that they were
not to learn about the ways of the culture; rather, their focus should remain
on learning the ways of the Lord.
Why? I believe it is because of
the temptations brought before them by the practices of the godless would draw
them away from a godly life style, bring them into disobedience and God’s
displeasure.
Second,
we are to be aware of the influence of those with whom we associate. If we are adapting our responses based upon
the responses of those around us, we are again conforming to an ungodly
pattern. Learning to “assert ourselves”,
to bully and manipulate, or control others by angry responses is unhealthy. It is not included in the description of the
fruit of the Spirit, but rather, you will find it more akin to the list of the
works of the flesh.
And,
thirdly, we are not to learn the way of the heathen because it does not give us
hope – it produces despair and dismay.
Sadly,
the way of the heathen is before us every day.
It is always calling us to conform to culture and to “stand up for
ourselves” and do our own thing, but in reality we must admit that it does not
produce a happy, secure and peaceful life.
It only brings more complication and despair.
Have
you learned too much of the world’s culture? Are you feeling pressured to keep
up with the rat race? Are your associates leading you into humanism and
unhealthy responses rather to godly attitudes?
Are you feeling life if hopeless and just too hard? Come back to learning Christ and leave the
world behind.
LEARN
“Let the woman learn in silence with all
subjection.” I Timothy 2:11“…let them learn first to shew piety at home. I Timothy 5:4,
“And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.” I Timothy 5:13
I’d like to entitle this short thought: Three Things Women Need to Learn.
In every verse the word “learn” means to appraise, to increase one's knowledge, to hear, be informed, to learn by use and practice to be in the habit of, or accustomed to. That tells me that we women need to be applying ourselves to acquiring and becoming accustomed to some Biblical skills.
Silence
– learning to think before we speak, knowing when to speak and when to hold our
tongue, to be more ready to listen than to speak. Quite a challenge for a gender whose daily
word count is higher than the opposite sex.
Piety
– this is the only time this word is used in the Bible. It is speaking of showing reverent respect to
authority, be it God, one’s country, magistrates or relations. Our example of respect to others is shown by
the way we respond to authority – respectful, obedient, and compliant. This is true in the church, in the home, in
the shops and in our workplace.
Decorum
– The things learned in I Timothy 5:13 are the opposite of what should be the
mannerisms of a godly Christian woman.
We have only to refer to Proverbs 31 to see the stark contrast. Rather than learning to be idle, a woman
should learn to be productive. Rather
than hanging out with her girlfriends all day, she should be tending to the
needs of her home and family. Rather
than keeping up on all the latest gossip and celebrities, she should employ her
mind with higher and healthier things.
Learning
takes effort. That is why we avoid
it! To learn to be silent and more
filtered with our tongues, to learn to be more respectful and considerate of
others, and to learn to live a life above the call of the women of the world
means that we will experience a level of spiritual pressure as we are reminded
by the Holy Spirit and taught to make choices that will change our lives.
However,
we must remind ourselves that the effort is well worth it for it produces a
life of joy, a solid testimony and a beauty of character that not only brings
joy to our Lord, but happiness and confidence to our lives as well.
Get
learning, girl.
LEARN
“…learn
to do well...” Isa 1:17“learn to maintain good works…” Titus 3:14
“It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.” Ps 119:71
Though
there are many things we could pull from Scripture that we should learn, let’s
limit ourselves to only these few direct thoughts.
Israel is being instructed in how they treat
others and how they live their lives before the Lord. Take a look:
“Wash you, make you clean; put
away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes, cease to do evil; learn to
do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for
the widow. Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat of
the good of the land…” Isaiah
1:16-18 Tucked right there in the
middle is our first little phrase. On
either side we see a wide variety of things that would exemplify doing well, or
doing good – being honest with people, staying away from evil practices,
helping the less fortunate, and being honest with God. We also see a blessing attached – we will eat
of the good of the land.
You
would think that these things would be natural to us. Why would we want to be dishonest, evil, and
uncaring? But, since we have a fallen
nature and live in a fallen world, we have only to look around us to see that
this is the nature of man. We have to
learn to live life differently.
Titus
tells us that as believers we have a responsibility to maintain good works. Doing
good works is a sign that we are Christians.
Our Lord gave the example as he went about doing good. And, it produces fruit and is profitable not
only for us, but for those around us. We can, obviously, slip back into our old
ways.
So,
how do we learn these things? Will we do
good just because we are told to?
According to the Psalmist, some learning comes by affliction. We have to be embarrassed at our lack of good
works, or, we have to see the error of our ways before we begin to learn the
benefit of improved behavior and the true blessing of obeying God’s command.
How
about you? Are you honest with others
and with God? Do you care for the
unfortunate? Are good works a part of
your daily life? Are you keeping evil out
of your life? What part of learning to
do well are you lacking? Or, do you find yourself having to learn things the
hard way?
LEARN
“…learn of me…” Matthew 11:29
Of
all the things we need to learn, learning Christ is paramount. He is to have the preeminence. In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. There is no learning
outside of Christ that will bring eternal benefit to our soul and abundant
blessing to our life.
“WWJD
– “What Would Jesus Do” is a slogan and challenge that has been presented to us
over the years. It takes a bit of Bible knowledge
to make decisions based upon this format.
And, though I don’t think this is a wrong way to approach life, it is
certainly a far cry from what our Lord really meant when he said, “Learn of
me.”
Learn
of me…learn who I am – the Almighty, the Prince of peace, the Saviour, the
ever-loving one…the list could go on and on.
Why not take time right now to think of ten of your own descriptions of
whom Christ is.
Learn
of me…learn why I came – to preach, to teach, to establish the church, to die
on the cross, to forgive sin…can you think of more?
Learn
of me…learn what I have given you - forgiveness, acceptance, power,
security…what more has Christ given you?
Learn
of me…learn about the example I lived out before you - kindness, care,
gentleness, humility, strength…what else do you see from Christ’s example?
Learn
of me…and ye shall find rest for your soul.
Are
you resting in Jesus? Do you know Him
well enough to be confident and secure in His love and provision? Have you ever considered and meditated on the
exhaustible riches and resources that are found solely in Christ? Do you even know him?
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