| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Lifelong learning” Our Bible verse for today: “Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?” Job 12:12 (NIV) Our thought for today: “Show some respect and learn” Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.” So said Moses in Leviticus 19:32. It is also what Job meant in Job 12:12 and it is advice we would all do well to heed today. If a Christian has been a lifelong learner, and if he or she has therefore aged well, that person is wise in the ways of God and we should listen to them. They will be like that sweet eighty-eight-year-old sister mentioned in yesterday’s devotional who at the age of eighty-eight published a book for children about becoming lifelong learners. She herself, even at an advanced age, was still active, curious, inquisitive, and learning. We can and should learn from people like her. Increasingly in our day the wisdom of the aged is not respected. That’s especially true among younger people who are way too sure of themselves – to the point of being dogmatic and rigid. I remember the time when I had recently retired from the Navy and was learning how to be a pastor. I was serving as the associate pastor at our church and I was very much still the hard-charging Naval Officer turned minister who was going to change the world for Jesus. I was so sure of myself and so strong in my opinions! However, my Pastor, Oren Teel, was more than twenty years older than me, much wiser, and much more relaxed about things. I can’t count the number of times I was in his office trying to help him see why the color of the new carpet needed to be green instead of brown, or why we needed to sing more praise songs and fewer hymns, or any number of other important issues that he just didn’t seem to be getting. He would just smile and urge me not to make such a big deal out of things that didn’t really matter very much. (Oren was rock-solid in his doctrine but much more relaxed about secondary issues.) It was so frustrating to me! Little did I realize that I was arguing with a future version of myself and that as he was then, I was one day going to be. The lesson Oren was modeling for me and teaching me was that we should always, at all stages of life, be a little less dogmatic about secondary issues, less insistent about things that are more a matter of opinion and preference rather than a matter of faith, and realize that over time our perspective on such things may very well change as we continue to learn and grow. Therefore, we need to treat each other with grace and humility as we make this journey through life together, being less insistent about having things our own way and being much more gracious with each other. That was an important life lesson that I needed to learn, and I learned it from a wiser older man who was a lifelong learner and who had aged well. I think I’m a better man today for being more like he was then instead of how I was then. In our Bible passages today Moses and Job were both essentially saying, “Show some respect and learn.” God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville) |
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