But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of… (2 Timothy 3:14, NIV)
We golfers are a skeptical lot. Inadequate as our game may be, we’re slow to move from what’s comfortable to what may actually work. This, an outside observer might say, is to our shame. But it may also be to our credit. Who wants to dedicate hours of practice spread over months of commitment if it isn’t really going to help our score? We’re not dummies!
Actually, the journey from learning to living must go by the way of being convinced in any endeavor.
If we keep on living as we are living, we resist any chance of improvement. You don’t get better by standing still. To keep growing, you must keep learning.
At the same time, if you run around learning little tips for this and that and apply them to life without understanding or without being convinced of their efficacy, you blunder along, lacking the skill that comes from practice and the confidence that allows you to work quickly and smoothly.
The apostle Paul saw all this in the growth of the believer. We learn. We become convinced of what we have learned. Then we live it out confidently.
How does this happen? Paul’s next words to Timothy help us answer this question: “…because you know from whom you have learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:15).
Good learning comes from good teachers. For the believer, this begins with the Scriptures. We go to the Word of God to find truth that makes us “wise for salvation.” It also comes from good teachers who pass on good words and provide good examples. For Timothy, this included his mother and his grandmother and Paul himself. The best sources provide the best instruction—and serve to convince us of what they have to say.
Moreover, the convincing that leads to a confident walk of faith comes from putting our learning into practice. When I encounter a new challenge or an unexpected difficulty, do the truths of Scripture about the love and provision of God stand up as well as they do when I’m cruising along in comfort? When God in his Word instructs me to honor him with a certain obedience, do I find upon practicing this obedience that I am blessed? As I answer yes to questions like these, I become increasingly convinced that my God truly can “meet all [my] needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). That’s a promise I can live with—and so I do!
—
Jeff Hopper
November 6, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.