October 10, 2011
Navigating
In honor of
Christopher Columbus I’m reminded of the many Spiritual explorers who’ve
navigated Biblical waters and shared their journey with us. My path has
certainly been made easier because of their maps of understanding, such as commentaries,
Bible Studies and sermon notes. However, I think we need to resist the
temptation to rest on the exploration of others….each of us in our own right
must become an explorer of the Word. “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians,
for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures
every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11 NIV)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Gail;
-----You are in good company in that thinking. Teachers are a gift from God. It is far easier to learn the basics regarding a system of information and knowledge from someone who knows it than it is to piece it together yourself. But on the other hand, once the system is learned, the teacher must give way to the student’s maturity. It is like a teacher can teach a child how to ride a bicycle, but once the child has learned the teacher goes his way and the child rides his way. This is especially so in matters of relationship with the Lord.
-----So Paul wrote, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (I Cor 3:5-9) Of course, Bible commentaries, dictionaries, and teachers direct their information primarily towards believers. Unless you want to envision them as planters of new information for the growth of new concepts in believing minds, they are waterers. Either way, Paul says they are nothing in the believers’ relationship with God, Who is the relationship’s life. That is not to say they are useless, it is only to say they are the deliverers of materials the Maker will shape into relationship. What is important is God’s building in His field. In that His building process needs materials the planters and waterers are important, but only as the importance of deliverers dropping off needed raw materials and then getting out of the way.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
Post a Comment