Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

• Acts 18:24-26

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.

• Deuteronomy 18:9

When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”
When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid. “A god has come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”

• 1 Samuel 4:7

Once upon a time, a long time ago, a young lady was in college.  Everyone was bragging about who she knew and what influence they had.  They bragged about how she was making good grades.  They bragged about how she was going to be influential herself.

Then in a quiet moment with practically no one around, an uncle asked, “You are doing well in college, but have you learned anything?”

The young lady’s mother burst into the room with venom in her eyes, “I will have you know she makes straight ‘A’s’!!!”

The uncle could have thrust in the dagger and said, “That is not what I asked,” but it was obvious that the uncle’s question was not understood.

Fast forward more than a decade.  A gathering of family occurs again and the same young lady, now an influential executive with a dozen professionals working for her is sitting on the couch.  She was taking a break from taking care of her children.  She was influential, married to a man with a lot of money.  They had no wants or needs.

A different uncle asked, “Did you learn anything this week?”

Her response was, “Not a blessed thing.”  Then she laughed.

I guess if you have more money than anyone else that you know, you do not need to learn.

Thus ends the parable.  For those who have ears, or in this case eyes …

The word “learn” is mentioned in the Bible 103 times (NIV).  I can say that I learn something every day.  Some days, I learn a lot of things.  There is always some leaf that I could overturn.  There is some route that I could travel.

We can learn more each day until the day we die, if only …

Learning requires the right attitude and the right guide.  As the Deuteronomy Scripture above states, there are things that we should not learn.

Learning to be more like Jesus is the only thing we can take with us when we leave this earth.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.