“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” Psalm 32:8
Instruction, teaching, counseling; these are the promises of God for us! But, these are promises only for those who are willing to be instructed, taught and counseled. Very often as adults we see ourselves as independent and self-reliant, without need or help from others. Sin would tell us that we are already well instructed enough, that we need not to be taught any more or counseled as to the way we should go. This then closes us off from receiving this promise from the Lord.
The truth is, we can never know enough or are ever so well taught and counseled that we need not learn any more. God’s Word and truths are inexhaustible and take far more than a life time to be learned. But even learning is not enough. Lessons must be lived and exercised. There is knowledge we get from instruction, but there is also experiential knowledge which comes from action. We can only move forward to practice after we have properly been taught.
God’s Word is a light that reveals to us the abundant life and the path to take. It is God’s Book of instruction for His Children and grants us a knowledge we could find no where else. It would be foolish to walk a path at night without some kind of illumination. Likewise, it is foolish to journey through this life in a dark world of sin without the Light of God, His Holy Word.
The best students are always the ones who are not only willing to learn, but desire to learn because they know that their knowledge is incomplete. Perhaps before we receive this promise from God, we should pray for minds and hearts that are open and willing to receive it. This is my prayer for us all today!
Know that you are loved!
Peace and Joy,
Pastor Kilian