Something New

 

 

“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”  Westminster Shorter Catechism

 

It was called “Sharing Day.” At the end of every Bible Study Fellowship year of study we were offered a day for the women to give a testimony of what the Lord had taught them during the study.

As the Teaching Leader it was my job to keep the day moving and make sure the testimonies were biblical.

One year an elderly woman stood up shaking her Bible like you would shake a finger at a naughty child. As she did so with her other hand on her hip, she was saying, “I don’t know who does it but every time I study this Book, someone has put something new in it! I am 82 years old and have studied Genesis before but God showed me something new!” She proceeded to tell us what she had learned – which I do not remember anymore.

What was so fascinating to me is that she had been studying for many more years than I had, yet she was willing and able to admit that there were still new things for her to learn. That same year I had heard other older women expressing how mundane the study had been for them because they had studied it so many times.

The difference that was evident in hearing the testimonies of both was the woman who had seen something new firmly believed that God had her in that study so she would learn something. She was expecting something new from Him.

The other women had an attitude of “I already know this. They were not expecting anything new. So, we all age until the Lord takes us home. We will all adopt an attitude that says either, “I know it all,” or “There are still things I don’t know about God.”

In my own studies of the Bible I have not spent much time in Proverbs so I recently decided to start reading them, a chapter a day.  Today, I read this:

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Proverbs 26:12

The challenge for me as I am aging is to pray I would keep the attitude that regardless of how much time I spend in the Word of God, I still have plenty to learn. This, as the more humble stance, should receive more blessing than the more prideful, “I got this” attitude.

Most of us seem to have some extra time on our hands as we sit quarantined from COVID 19. Is there a book of the Bible that you have not spent much time in? Is now a good time to dig in and see what the Lord will teach you?

You can, like my elderly friend from Sharing Day, expect to find some new nugget that will bless you, something to enjoy about God and glorify Him for giving it to you.