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Life Long Learner
Jon Burgess“If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge.” Proverbs 19:27
I've always wondered how the wisest man to ever live could go so wrong towards the end. The man who was divinely inspired to pen these very verses I live by in Proverbs made such foolish choices. I knew, of course, that because of his disobedience to Gods command regarding foreign wives his heart had been turned away. But, what got him to that place with the first foreign wife? It always has to start somewhere. The pebble at the top of the mountain that triggers the avalanche that buries Gods dreams for us. This was that pebble. He was given the wisdom of God but he stopped coming as a child before His Heavenly Father. Somewhere along the way as people came to him for the wisdom he stopped going to God. Pastor Wayne put it this way: "Wisdom must be intentionally maintained. Just because you start off wise it doesn't mean you'll stay that way." King Solomonhimself wrote in Ecclesiastes 4:13: Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who longer knows how to heed a warning."
I believe this is what Jesus was getting when he encouraged us to come to him with the faith of a child. The moment we stop coming to the Lord to learn is the moment we begin to turn our backs on Him and go towards our own ways. I have two teenage sons who still have so much to learn but are much less likely to ask for help then my other three sons who are younger. Now, of course, I'm not talking about teaching my teens how to tie their shoes or how to make their bed. These basic skills they should have down by now... hopefully. I'm talking about the very issues that eventually led Solomons heart astray. I want to help walk them through what to do when they are attracted to a girl that isn't in love with Jesus. Sometimes they don't want to hear it. Sometimes I don't want to hear what my Heavenly Father will say either. So, if I don't ask I don't have to hear right? Then, slowly but surely I've distanced myself from the wisdom of the ages simply because I've stopped learning and following His leading.
Lord, I pray that I would never stop coming as a child before you. That I would never stop tugging at your sleeve and asking You to guide me through the challenges that I face. Forgive me for ignoring your voice so I can make my selfish choice. Thank You for calling me to learn again through this Master Course and through this Life Journal.
