“Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Matthew 11:29 NLT
I love learning. Why else would I have returned as a mature student to study for my Masters and then my PhD? While we learn to understand and engage with God in our heart, our minds still require stimulus. Learning has little to do with the heights of academia. That’s where I do my learning, but I am so impressed with my neighbour, whose ability to imagine structures and build them from scratch is remarkable. I find such practical ability something to marvel at, taking my own intellectual achievements for granted. We are never to stop learning, for in stimulating our minds we open ourselves to more of God.
Using the mind stimulates us and moves us away from boredom. There are many who have grown tired of living, for they have lost any passion for continuous growth and development. It is pretty obvious really that as we stand on the threshold of eternity we shall be forever learning. It’s simply laziness that allows all we know of God to be reduced to simple formulae that we can repeat almost parrot fashion, yet fail to find the means for translating each formula into effective God-like behaviours.
The yoke we are offered is one of learning from God direct. Life may seem a burden and we may become surrounded, almost marooned, by difficulties, yet this is the source of our learning when we entrust ourselves to God. It’s counterintuitive that as we assume ageing means slowing down, God says learn actively and only then we shall find rest for our souls. We imagine that rest is the absence of activity, when in fact rest is God’s gift at the very heart of activity.
QUESTION
What fresh areas would you like to learn and discover this year?
PRAYER
Lord God, this world that you have made is magnificent and there is so much to discover. Help me never to tire of learning of all that you have made.