Thursday, November 16, 2017

Teachable


"It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me." John 6:45 Jesus knew his Bible. He could quote it. He could apply it. He could use it in His own teachable moments. His text was Isaiah 54:13, a messianic continuation of the great "suffering servant" text of Isa.53. The chapter begins with the "barren woman" who never bore a child eventually having more children to the point of having to enlarge her tent. Paul quotes this in Galatians 4:27 as a reference to Sarah who stayed childless for years and eventually gave birth to a Promise through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. God's family is expanding and He must teach His children. 

But notice in Isaiah 54:13 that the intended outcome of the teaching of God is the peace or wellbeing of his children. Just as earthly fathers are not to provoke their children to wrath, our heavenly Father knows that his school must be a place of peace. Jesus' word for this wellbeing is "eternal life." The ultimate homeostasis is a result of being taught by our Father, the ultimate homeschooler. The key to this wellbeing is allowing ourselves to be taught by the Father. The chaos and confusion of lives is a direct indicator of an unteachable spirit. 

The text says the hearer or listener learns. Jesus told the Pharisees who complained against Him, "Go and learn what this means..." (Mark 9:13) The one yoked to Jesus' easy yoke learns from Jesus. (Matt.11:29) The children and grandchildren of widows must learn to put their religion into practice. (1 Tim.5:3-4) Timothy was admonished to continue in the things he had learned. (2 Tim.3:14) Notice, in this text, learning should lead to conviction. There is a certain way we "learn Christ" according to Paul in Eph.4:20, not as the Gentiles walk. 

To live in our Father's house is to be in an environment of learning. God doesn't entertain His children; rather, He teaches them. For us earthly fathers to be able to follow in the footsteps of our heavenly Father, we must serve as His teaching assistant to facilitate learning in our homes. Study and learning should be a natural practice in a Christian home, and certainly within the church. Though we bemoan the fact that the government has taken prayer and Bible reading out of their schools, we still have two other much more effective institutions, the home and the church, where we can provide as many godly teachable moments as we desire, without hindrance. But, for this to happen each of us have to be teachable.



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