We’ve all been down the path of living life publicly having spent many hours in our private world preparing for a future that may be certain, or not. Before you do the job, generally, you have spent hours, months and maybe years of training.
Isn’t this what we want from our surgeon or pilot? Train on your own time before you take my life into your hands!
However, much of what we end up doing in life is OJT (On-the-job Training). You learn as you go, and grow as you learn. Your training salary becomes your earning wage, as in, too often a raise never comes until you’ve proven you can do the job! If you are younger and growing into the future, then life has many learning steps that may be spent in the classroom, reading and studying on your own, or spending some OJT hours. And hours!
After you’ve arrived,
you either rest on your laurels,
or think about the next growth opportunity,
roll up your sleeves,
and continue to learn,
and grow into the future!
When I wanted to become a programmer back in 1977, I spent time in college on my own initiative, paid for the privilege of learning, worked hand-in-glove with a manager who coached me from my Computer Operator position to a Trainee position, and eventually, I made it. But everything I did was reviewed and no changes were made without approval. The first program I wrote printed out a case of paper and it was scary and exciting to review the results and realize I had actually written a new program, processed data, and produced a report! Then, for the next 25 years, I kept adding programming languages to my toolkit so I could grow with the technology as it moved from Keypunch cards to Cloud storage.
Later in life, and following my calling into Ministry, I planted my first church. Only, there was no training, no financial support, no words of wisdom that followed me in my daily life, or annual progress. There was one local pastor that would call periodically to check in with me, but I was in Anchorage and he was in Fairbanks, and in the dead of winter, that’s practically another state away! So much of what I became was the result of learning on the job, learning to deal with personalities, planning sermons that improved me greatly because long before you can share the Word to someone else you must prepare for hours, days and even weeks for every spoken word.
In both cases, failures were many. Sometimes you have to just bite the bullet, learn the lesson, and grow so you can improve the next time! And then make the decision to continue to learn so you can continue to improve and not make the same mistake over and over again!
Here’s my thought today. Long before we “become” we generally know to make a commitment to our future plans and deal with our own schedule to learn what we need, make all the necessary sacrifices, and work hard so that we can grow into the “career”.
But the one thing I take note of, what I’ve learned in the past must be refreshed with new experiences and knowledge so that it comes into a more complete understanding. It’s like reading the Bible from beginning to the ending again knowing that every time I open the pages of this special book I continue to learn as I go. It’s not like learning the beginning lessons from years gone by, rather, it’s learning how the Word applies to current challenges. In a revelatory fashion, I open ancient tomes that are very applicable to this complex world we have before us.
I continue to Learn As I Do so that I can continue to become better.
It was Apostle Paul’s last epistle, and it was to his protege, Timothy. Paul is soon to face his death and wants Timothy to come to his side. Demas has left. Only Luke remains. “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:9-13) Bring my cloak…and the books..especially the parchments. Here’s a senior Man of God, about to face his final demise, and he wants the books (newer technology) and the parchments (older technology). I do not think Paul wanted these things just because he owned them. I think he wanted them so he could continue his studies!
Paul instructs Timothy:
- Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV)
- Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (2 Timothy 4:2-4 NKJV)
I believe Paul is telling Timothy to do what he does… Be diligent. Rightly divide the word of truth. Preach. Be ready. Know your doctrine because there will be a time the world will not be interested in the Words of God. Fables will become their primary input. But it’s not Fables that will judge nor save us. It’s what we find in the consistently studied Word of God that will take us forward into the uncertain future.
And as you grow into the future you keep on learning from the same resources that you learned from before you became!
Keep on studying! Keep on learning! Keep on growing!