Learning

By Joe Slater       If classes at your school haven’t started already, they soon will. We wish all of our students, teachers, and staff a safe and productive year!     I wish I had paid better attention and tried harder in school! I did well in subjects I liked (math, science, music). But poor grades in history, geography, and art evidenced my childish and foolish immaturity. Art still holds little appeal to me, but since becoming interested in the Bible I have regretted my extremely limited grasp of history and geography! It turns out that what “a bunch of dead guys” did and said actually makes a difference to us!     That’s even more obvious when it comes to Bible characters. They were real people who lived in real places at real times in history. What they did and what God did through them and for them affects us! Knowing that Joseph’s cup was in Benjamin’s sack teaches us important lessons, and it’s not just so we can give the right answers playing “Bible Trivia”! (There is nothing trivial about the Bible!)     As we finished our study of Judges and launched into the life of Paul, someone pointed out that if the tribe of Benjamin had been completely wiped out (as it nearly was in Judges 20-21), there would have been no apostle Paul. What an astute observation! What happened back then is important!     Let’s redouble our determination to take Bible study seriously. Let us learn not merely to regurgitate facts, but to understand who God is, who we are as His people, and how we can glorify Him in worship and by serving others in His name!

- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com