Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:13-14, NIV)
Here’s a confusing question: What does it mean to learn the game?
Does it mean that you can stand a ball on a tee without getting down on your hands and knees and awkwardly pushing the peg into the grass? Does it mean you can swing the club smoothly and not whiff?
Certainly, these are the beginnings of making an effort to get around the golf course, but there is so much more to it than this. You have rules to learn, and etiquette. Later you’ll want to be able to fade it and draw it, to gauge a soaring flop shot and a low, bouncing chip. You’ll need to understand course management and how to perform under pressure.
Yowza! You really can spend a lifetime learning this game!
And yes, you can (and will) spend a lifetime learning what it means to walk with Jesus. It doesn’t take long in reading through the New Testament to recognize that the Twelve were not done with their spiritual education when their earthly teacher left them. They, too, had a lifetime of learning to do.
Our continuing necessary growth is one way God grabs the attention of our pride. Each day with Jesus, we are brought forward by his training; and yet on no day may we declare, “I’ve arrived!” The Spirit will prune a little more, discarding the waste and making way for fresh growth.
God also moves us toward humility by varying the rate of growth among his people. While I may be softening in my temper, finding it to be replaced with increasing kindness, my fight for sexual purity might go on. Meanwhile, you have been freed from your sexual battles, yet you let the anger boil over when it should not. I can see God’s work in each of us, but I can also see the sin he is still dealing with.
All of which sets us up for understanding forgiveness. When my friend or I make several ugly golf mistakes during today’s round, we forgive one another, saying. “Let’s work on that tomorrow. We’ll get there.” In the same way, we want to address one another’s sin not by ignoring it but by forgiving it and encouraging each other to keep moving toward the righteousness that demonstrates maturity.
We cannot find one catchall answer for the question, What does it mean to learn our faith? For today it means one step and tomorrow another. And while I may still need to learn truthtelling, you may still need to learn generosity. What we can do is keep looking to grow, because one who is a Christian wants nothing less than to mature a bit more each day in Christ.
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Jeff Hopper
November 18, 2013
Copyright 2013 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.