Slow Learners

The Slow Learner

Sunday, April 06, 2008

By Pastor Jim May

If you are like me, and I think that most people are, then you are sometimes a little slow to learn the truths of the Bible and the ways of God. Sometimes I just don’t get it. It’s not that I don’t believe, but this little old “peanut” brain just can’t seem to always work the way it should.

How many times does God have to give us a lesson before we learn it? We keep facing the same tests again and again, and somehow we keep missing the point and failing God. But one day, by his mercy, we finally understand. We pass the test and we move on, growing a little stronger in the Lord and understanding a little bit more about Jesus.

Like the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 28:10, "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little…" You learn about Jesus one little tidbit at a time. You grasp the truths of God’s Word one point at a time. But over time all of those little bits add up to a knowledge of Jesus that grows and expands, until one day you find yourself sold out to Jesus and ready to work for him.

That’s how a life of faith works. You never know it all, you only know a little bit as it is revealed to you. You never know what tomorrow holds, but you do know what the next step is. God only reveals himself to you a little bit at a time because he knows that we are all slow learners.

It has always been that way. No man ever stepped into the realm of the Spirit and suddenly understood all things. You’re walk by faith requires a process of learning and failing, learning and failing. With every failure a lesson is learned, at least we hope so.

Aren’t you glad that you don’t have to be a genius to serve the Lord? Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t just call the highly educated and the elite of society? God calls people from all walks of life, the slow learners, the fast learners and every one in between. God is an “Equal Opportunity Employer” and he is partial to one person above the other.

But I am convinced that most people who choose to serve the Lord are slow learners simply because most of the highly educated and social elite are too self sufficient to humble themselves before God. Therefore, those of the social elite among men often look down upon those who serve the Lord as the lower class in society.

My friend, I might just be of the lower class in the society of this world, but this world is not my home. My home is in Heaven. I’m just a pilgrim and a stranger in this world so why should I care what other people think of my social standing? All I care about is whether they see Jesus in me. I travel light through this world. I don’t need a lot of extra baggage hanging on me.

When you travel, do you take everything with you? Well, maybe some might try. No, you only take the necessities and leave everything else at home. You don’t take the furniture, the refrigerator or the lawn mowers with you when you travel. Can you imagine how much baggage you would have to carry if you took everything you owned with you on a trip? You only have a small part of what you own with you. All you’re valuable property is left at home.

My home is in Heaven. That’s where my treasure is. I’m traveling light through this world because I don’t want anything to hinder me on my journey home. Nothing of this world is worth the price of missing that final flight to Glory. Whatever I have with me here is going to be left behind because it is nothing to compare with what I have waiting on the other side.

Thank God I don’t have to be a millionaire to live for Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence."

Out of the sea of humanity, God reached down and spoke to you and me. Out of the billions of souls that are on planet Earth, God chose us. We are hand-picked by God, called out from among the crowd, chosen to be his disciple and then anointed to do his work. We are all given the same calling and the same anointing. I didn’t say that we were all given the same work to do. But we all receive the same Spirit, the same salvation, the same Savior and the same baptism. What happens after that all depends on how quick we learn and how much we are willing to obey the Lord and commit our ways to him. By out own actions, our destiny is fixed. Each one of us must work out our own salvation by following the Lord in obedience to his Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.