The Labor of Studying

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.  (Ecclesiastes 12:12 KJV)

As a new school year gets underway, I am reminded of my time as a student—all the new experiences, meeting new people, and learning new ideas—the experiences that have played a role in who I am today.  At the beginning of a new year there seems to be a sense of possibility—dreaming new dreams, discovering new things about yourself and others.  There seems to be something special about new pencils and new notebooks that harkens to a fresh start full of possibility.  Some students may discover a teacher or other staff member that they seem to “connect” with and a mentoring relationship begins to develop.  While mentoring in the academic or professional sense is important, there is a mentoring that is even more important (and the topic of last week’s post) spiritual mentoring.   

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.  

(Ecclesiastes 12:12 KJV)

How amazingly true are the words written by King Solomon!  Studying does indeed weary the body!  Any thesis or dissertation writer would agree that there is no end to making many "books" and no end to writing many “papers”!  Worldly endeavors encountered as we journey through our school years is most definitely toil—toil that should cause us to feel utterly weary.  However, we will discover that what we do for the Lord is not wearying in the same way.

How or when have you found studying to be wearing?

For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.  (Ecclesiastes 1:18 KJV)

Some students might even agree that with wisdom and knowledge there is sorrow and grief, particularly if God is left out of the equation.  Living in the world, pursuing worldly pleasures and worldly ideals is a sure formula for experiencing grief and sorrow.  Think about all the time and pressures incurred in pursuing a college education—graduation comes and reality sets in that the world is much different than the academe led students to believe.

Kim nearing college graduation, spring 1995

When or where did you discover sorrow and grief in gaining wisdom and knowledge?

The best study we can do is being a student of God’s Word.

As students and teachers start another year of learning and growing together, we too, can renew our commitment to studying the Word of God.  However, we need to do more than simply read and study; we need to apply what we are learning to our lives.  Reading and studying God’s Word really should not exhaust us (at least not in the way we were accustomed to as students elsewhere).

Personal Photo

Personal Photo

For those of us who preach, teach, and write about the Word of God, we will be held to a higher standard by Him (see James 3:1); therefore, we would be wise to heed Paul’s admonition to his spiritual son, Timothy:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV)

Do not become weary with too much reading, studying, doing that you neglect sitting quietly waiting on God and His still small voice.  It is here that we find rest for our weariness, a balm for our aching, hurting soul.  In this quiet, secret place as we commune with the Lord and He communes with us, we discover refreshment that our entire beings crave; yet rarely find in this noisy and busy world.  

If you are interested in getting into God’s Word, I encourage you to do so and check out this year’s 50 Day Spiritual Adventure.  (Readings for the week of September 11 will be posted early morning September 11, 2016.)

What portion of Scripture does God have you studying?

Please join with me in prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the most amazing gift of Your Holy Word.  It truly contains all we need to live the life You have given us.  Please give us an ever deepening hunger for Your Word; help us to study it diligently and not grow weary.  Guide us in our study and application of Your Word, so we do not wear ourselves out with much study of things not of You.  For those of us who preach, teach, and write about Your Word, help us to be diligent in our study and to rightly divide the Word of God.  In Jesus’ Name we pray.  Amen.

From My Heart to Yours,

Kim

Spiritual Mentors

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.  (Colossians 2:6-7 KJV)

Yesterday, September 1, 2016, marked the beginning of another school year in my community.  It is a time to meet new people, learn new things, and grow intellectually and socially.  A new school year is a fresh start of sorts, much like the start of a new calendar year or month (or even day!).  This time of year seems to call us back to our school days (no matter how long we have been out of school)—the busy days of summer fun give way to a school year with busyness of its own—hopefully this time will also cause us to desire to return to time in the Word (if we neglected that during the summer).  For some ideas to get started on reading the Word, please see my 50 Day Spiritual Adventure for 2016 (first post appeared September 1, future posts will go up early on Sunday morning September 4-October 16). 

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.  (Philippians 4:9 KJV)

Personal Photo 

God’s Word is full of wisdom for the whole of life.  We are wise to read, study, and apply it to our lives.  Moreover, seeking out a mentor to guide us in our walk is extraordinarily beneficial and assists our spiritual growth.  We grow, too, when we mentor others.  Learning and growing should never end, even when we supposedly reach the end of our student days.  I, along with many others, have discovered that even when we teach, tutor, or mentor that we learn along side the person(s) we are teaching or mentoring.  With all of this in mind, today’s post will take a brief look at mentors and mentoring; currently, I am planning a month long consideration of learning and education.  

Personal Photo

And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.  

(2 Timothy 2:2 KJV)

So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

(1 Thessalonians 2:8 KJV)

What is mentoring?  Who is a mentor?  When you pause to consider it, mentoring is seen in both the Old and New Testaments.  For example, Moses had Jethro, Timothy had Paul, and the disciples had Jesus.  The Holy Spirit is our Teacher and Mentor too. 

Simply put, a mentor is:  “someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person.”[1]

For our purposes here, a mentor is also one who is farther ahead on the faith journey than the person he or she is mentoring; the mentor may or may not be chronologically older.

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.  (Hebrews 13:7 KJV)

I imagine all of us have or had special people in our lives—people who came along side (possibly seeing something of worth in us) and built us up, encouraging us to develop our God given potential.  Mentors truly are special people who freely give of themselves, building into the life of another person.

Personal Photo

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.  (Proverbs 27:17 KJV)

For many of us, those people were Christian teachers, coaches, pastors, or mentors who helped us grow in our walk with the Lord.  Mentors really only need a willing heart and be just a bit ahead of the person being mentored.  The benefits of mentoring relationships are priceless.  Ideally, both sides of any mentoring relationship learn and grow together.

And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.  (Acts 8:27-31 KJV)

Perhaps, you remember the person(s) who led to your decision to invite Jesus into your heart.  What characteristics made this person unique?  What did they have that caused you to seek them out as a mentor?  My guess is—it was not dependent upon looks or money; it was most likely something intangible.  In the verses (above) from Acts, we see Philip, empowered by the Holy Spirit, in a short-term mentoring relationship with an Ethiopian eunuch; leading to the Ethiopian’s salvation.  This spread the gospel into Africa!  Please do not discount the power of one simple meeting.

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.  

(John 14:26 KJV)

Spend some time in the week ahead (and through this month) reflecting on these special people and being thankful.  Just think:  you may be on someone’s list! 

If you think you would like to have mentor, I encourage you to pray and see who God puts on your heart to ask.  Likewise, you may also desire to be a mentor for someone in your life—I encourage you to take the matter to the Lord in prayer and see who He places on your heart.

Who is your mentor?

Who can you mentor?

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.  

(Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.  

(1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV)

Please join with me in prayer:

Dear Lord, cause us to remember all the special people who have taught and mentored us in our faith.  Thank You for their comment and time spent in preparation, as they guided our faith walk as we matured.  Grant us the wisdom to lead others to Christ and help them grow in their faith, realizing that You are the One who brings about the growth.  Our thankfulness for all we have in Jesus overflows.  In Jesus’ Name, we pray.  Amen.

From My Heart to Yours,

Kim

---

[1] From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentor