God’s “back to school” advice

Most of the ads and emails contain back-to-school sales this week. I remember shopping for new backpacks, school supplies, shoes, and socks—especially socks! Summer camps and vacations took a major toll on my sons’ socks, probably because they wore them without shoes. I taught second grade, and every “back to school” season has some nostalgia for me. I enjoyed all the seasons of my sons’ school years, and now I enjoy watching them get their kids ready for that first day of class.

I rarely think a back-to-school ad is for me anymore, and that led me down a thought path that brought me to this blog post. I’ve read several articles on “aging” lately discussing how we can stay healthy and sharp as we age. Every article I read talked about the great need to continue to learn. My blog post last week discussed Peter’s encouragement to “increase” in our knowledge of God. 

One consistent lesson of Scripture is that God’s children should continue learning and practicing God’s word. Solomon taught, “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance” (Proverbs 1:5). Recent studies have proven that continuing to learn something new is crucial for aging well. Solomon agrees!

What is God’s advice about learning?

Kids will be excited to return to school this fall. When were you last excited to learn something new? Since we should never stop learning, what new thoughts and ideas can we learn, or re-learn from God’s word?

  1. Learn now, in advance of Judgment Day. We are going to see Paul one day in heaven. It would be a good idea to remember his advice about learning. He told Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). We need to be ready to answer biblical questions people raise. We should continue to learn God’s word for the sake of our souls and our witness. Better to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” than to hear Paul say, “I told you so!”
  1. The Lord is the best teacher. Register for his class. I still remember how exciting it was to pull an early registration time. There were always certain classes I wanted and almost always a favorite professor I hoped to choose. Imagine being able to sign up for a class led by the Holy Trinity! God said, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8). Would you register for a class that Jesus was teaching, knowing that his eye would be upon you? It’s an interesting thought. I think I would love attending his class, but I might worry a bit about the final exam. 
  1. Know the “prerequisites” for your coursework. Counselors were always available to help during the week of registration. It was always important to know if a class had any prerequisites. The counselors’ job was to help us get our classes completed in the correct order. We must consider a spiritual prerequisite as we continue learning God’s word. The apostle John wrote, “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9). Our education with the Lord requires us to live in obedience to what we have already learned. God may not advance us to the next class unless we have obeyed the lessons we have already been taught.
  1. Allow God to determine your schedule and interrupt your plans. I had two roommates in college who tried to schedule their classes and lunch break around their favorite soap opera. Occasionally, a required class meant they had to miss their show for a semester. (There was no DVR during those days!) God doesn’t tend to give us schedule options either. Instead, he gives us his Spirit and the inspiration to follow his commands. Often God’s favorite teaching time is in the wee hours of the morning, when you find yourself unable to sleep. That’s true for many people in Scripture as well. Isaiah wrote, “My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9). When we “yearn for” God’s word we will want to seek it, even in the middle of the night!
  1. Be careful to pursue the right degree. I changed my major once in college. I had been studying for a business degree when a series of events led me to realize that God was calling me to become a teacher. That knowledge literally changed my life. I lost some class credits but have never regretted making the necessary changes to obey God’s calling. I’ve been a teacher for my entire adult life. What is the degree that God wants you to pursue? One thing is sure: obedience to God’s calling means you will accomplish his plan for your life. God’s calling is how he wants to accomplish his work through you. Pursuing the right degree will mean you accomplish your most important job. Jesus told his disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20). When we pursue the right degree, we graduate with the ability to be an effective disciple of Christ wherever we go. Jesus hands us a diploma, then walks beside us for the rest of our lives – to the “end of the age.”

What will “back to school” look like in your life?

This is a good time of year to evaluate your spiritual growth and decide how to get back to a life of learning. We do not stop learning about God until we stop living on earth and meet him face to face. Maybe we will even continue to learn in heaven. Imagine signing up for the “newcomers class” in heaven, taught by Jesus and the apostles! I’m smiling at that thought!

Until then, what do you need a refresher course in? What class have you never taken because you thought it would be too difficult? Is there a course you haven’t taken because it interferes with something else you want to do? When graduating well is our goal, we will carefully sign up for every class needed. Thankfully, we have a wonderful counselor who makes sure we are able to complete everything necessary to graduate one day, with honors.

Allow all of the back-to-school ads you see serve as reminders that we all still have more to learn. The psalmist wrote, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground” (Psalm 143:10). Continuing to learn is essential to aging well, for our bodies and souls. 

The good news is that graduation day will be a celebration like no other!

Spiritual Longevity

I’m not sure how AI figured out I was officially a candidate for anything about aging and longevity, but I have been inundated with emails. Every morning, I wake up to product ads seeking to sell me anything that will make my joints feel better, make my brain more alert, or provide a solution for all the wrinkles, etc. AI is looking for all of us, and eventually we will be found. Maybe I should spend some time googling baby strollers instead of knee braces, but who am I kidding? I would just get more emails. However, it would be fun to confuse AI, even if just for a while.

I recently read some excellent articles on aging and longevity. I thought about including the links for all of you, but if you clicked on even one of those articles, your inbox would fill up in a hurry. Those articles did inspire the path I want to take with this blog post. 

As I read those articles and learned what I should and shouldn’t do, what I should and shouldn’t eat, and more things that I already knew, but didn’t always practice, I began to think. People put a lot of effort into helping us age well physically, but do we get the same attention to help us maintain our spiritual lives? 

Our souls are eternal, and frankly, our bodies are not. Are we feeding our minds, exercising our spirituality, and caring for our souls so they will stay strong and vibrant until the day we enter heaven’s reward?

What can we do to maintain and increase our spiritual longevity?

What should we be consuming?

Those articles I read were full of information about the foods we should and shouldn’t eat to keep our bodies and minds strong. To sum it up, eat what your grandparents ate, and you’ll be better off. The articles were good reminders, but not new information.

So it is with what we need to feed our minds. We know that Paul taught us “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).

How would our souls be impacted if we treated our media consumption the same way we treat our food consumption? We know what happens to our bodies if we eat French fries, cheesecake, onion dip, and donuts. So it is with our souls when we watch too much opinionated news, too many movies with foul language and angry violence, and too many comedians who want us to laugh at someone else’s expense.

The old adage is, “You are what you eat.” We are being warned to limit our processed foods, and we need to limit processed thinking as well. We can consume too much processed “spiritual” food. That’s what Paul was talking about when he told the Corinthians, “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready” (1 Corinthians 3:2). 

The “milk” Paul spoke of was mother’s milk, fed to an infant. The mother eats food, which her body then processes into milk. An infant is unable to consume anything else. Paul’s lesson: Many in the Corinthian church had remained spiritual infants because they had not yet learned to consume God’s word of truth for themselves, through the power of the Holy Spirit. They had not learned to walk with a personal relationship to God. Like a small child, they still needed someone else to hold their hand to keep them from tripping.

I’m grateful to all those who read this blog post. But my goal in writing is always to teach God’s word so that you can consume Scripture more easily. As we age, we can grow weaker spiritually if we rely on what we already know or receive from others. When did you last open God’s word and hear him speak directly to your heart and mind?

How should we be exercising our faith?

Physical longevity requires us to keep working our muscles with daily exercise. If we sit too much, we grow weaker. Spiritual longevity requires us to exercise our faith.

Paul taught, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). It’s easy to convince ourselves that we have worked hard our entire lives and now it’s time to let someone else carry the load. Scripture teaches us never to grow weary of doing good. There is never a time when we can give up sharing the gospel message with others. There is never a time we are allowed to only hang out with “saints” and let someone else handle the “sinners.” 

Have you grown weary doing the work of your witness? We have planted thousands of seeds into the lives of others. Our job is to keep nurturing the growth, pulling the weeds, and continually bringing the water of life to their souls. We aren’t done until the harvest. We aren’t done until they have produced the fruits of the Spirit in their lives. When your “crops” bear fruit, it’s time to hoe another row and plant more seeds. The work of our witness isn’t complete until we wake up in heaven one day!

My mom is in memory care now, and every morning they do their stretch classes, as most of them sit in their wheelchairs. Some can barely follow and barely lift their arms and legs – but they keep trying. I love to sit with them sometimes and cheer them on. They are close to the finish line but aren’t there yet! One of the ladies was married to an Assembly of God preacher, and she also did a LOT of work in their churches. It’s a joy to encourage her as she tries to do ministry in memory care. She can’t remember many things, but the Holy Spirit still speaks the word of God through her. She is still working her witness, and I am blessed to know her.

How will you pursue spiritual longevity?

One of the things I often read about in those longevity articles is the importance of continuing to pursue something new. The articles suggest a new hobby, a new book, a new exercise, or a new class. We always need to be learning and trying new things. How will you do that spiritually? How might you pursue God in a new way? Who is a new friend or family member that needs to grow spiritually? How will you share God’s wisdom and your time with that person?

Spiritual longevity should be pursued with as much, or more fervor, than we pursue our physical longevity. Those articles I read will probably cause me to take a few more steps, eat fewer sweets, and learn new things. I hope this article will help us pursue a lot more that is “new” for us with God, too. 

Hunter Thompson has a quote that works equally well for our earthly lives and our eternal souls. He said, “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body. But rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘WOW! WHAT A RIDE!”

Now there’s a way to enter glory that will make Jesus grin! I look forward to seeing that smile, don’t you?

St. Peter’s scale

Wasn’t it nice to wake up this morning to ads about insurance and toothpaste instead of ads about political candidates? 

I voted early this time and then kept the remote nearby so I could reach the mute button. As I write these words, I don’t know how the midterms will turn out. Hopefully, there won’t be any runoff elections in Texas. I think the mute button on my remote is wearing out! 

As you read these words, you have probably heard reports of the election results. I don’t need to hear the statistics to write this blog post. I already know that half the country is happy and the other half is disappointed. Those feelings will be reflected in the faces we see today in our neighborhoods, places of business, and anywhere else we go. Hopefully, your home is of the same opinion, but even that isn’t guaranteed for everyone. 

One thing is certain: it would be good to remember that the volume of our witness today will be set on high. Whether your candidates won or lost, people will be gauging your response. 

Wise counsel from Hebrews

This is a good day to walk in the counsel of Hebrews 12:14 which says, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” 

Politics matter. Elections matter. But neither matters as much as helping people know the Lord. 

The words of our witness today will be wiser if we allow Hebrews 12:14 to frame them. Picture a big box with a locked lid sitting next to a door. Imagine gathering your prideful thoughts, sinful thoughts, disappointments, and slander and then choosing to lock up every word produced from your natural self in that box before you step into your day. 

How will your day turn out differently if you strive for peace with everyone? How many arguments or angry discussions can you avoid if you strive to be holy? Who will be impressed with your “peace” even if they disagree with your politics? 

One thing I am certain of, even though I am not yet certain about the elections, is this: when we woke up this morning, God was still on his throne and his plans and promises are still in place.  

Our faith is supposed to be an effort

Sometimes I wish it were easier to be a Christian in our culture. Then I remember what first-century Christians endured.

I remember what many Christians who first came to this country endured before and after their arrival. And, if you simply google “Christian persecution in the world” today, you will find the numbers shocking. 

It is easy to be a Christian in our culture today compared to so many others. It just isn’t as easy as it was a few years ago. Interestingly, our Christian witness is getting a LOT more attention from the culture. That can be good and bad.  

Peter wrote counsel to the early church that was very similar to the author of Hebrews. The Apostle wrote, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5–8). 

There is a key phrase in that important passage that describes a Christian’s highest effort. If this became our great effort, we would live with a powerful witness to our culture. That phrase is how we can measure our day today and our lives. The phrase is: “If these qualities are yours and are increasing.”  

Our great effort for today is to continually grow into the holiness Peter described. We need to do better this month than we did last month. We need to have a stronger witness for Christ this year than we did last year.  

How do you typically measure your spiritual growth?  

If we could step onto Saint Peter’s scale

Some people step on their bathroom scale every day to see what they weigh. Some people step on their scales less often. Some people aren’t sure if they still own a bathroom scale. Our weight usually fluctuates, especially in these next two months! 

We don’t really need the scale to tell us what our waistbands are already shouting. Most of us will step on a scale, at least once in a while, hoping that maybe there is another explanation for the tighter fit. Maybe the dryer was too hot or maybe the fabric continues to shrink? Maybe the scale needs new batteries or maybe the settings are no longer working. (I’ve got a million of these ideas!) 

But my real point is this: If St. Peter could have created a scale to measure spiritual growth, would we buy one, use it, and believe it? 

If St. Peter’s scale registered “faith and virtue,” would we be overweight or underweight? If St. Peter’s scale measured “self-control and steadfastness,” would we be ejected from it? If St. Peter’s scale weighed our “godliness, holiness and love,” how far would the needle swing? 

The real point of St. Peter’s scale is whether or not we are gaining. 

Let’s make every effort to live like St. Peter taught

You will likely have an opportunity today to “increase” the standards of your faith and express the virtues Peter listed. Every day is an opportunity to “strive for” the peace and holiness that will help others know the Lord. 

If Bed Bath & Beyond sold St. Peter’s scale, I would buy it. I would keep it someplace where I would see it often. Yet I can’t help but wonder if I would treat it like my bathroom scale and try to explain away the numbers. 

That picture might be just what we need to live this day with the wise counsel from Hebrews 12:14. The good news about St. Peter’s scale is that “increasing” measurements are a good thing! 

So, let’s get out there and live like Christians . . . and hopefully our witness will weigh more tomorrow than it does today.