Keep Learning from Jesus  

It is that time of the year for students and teachers to return to school. However, we should keep in mind that there isn’t solely one season of the year or even one season of life in which we focus on learning. It is an ongoing process for all of us. Recently I have been working on a new skill. After many years of pounding computer keyboards (and before that, typewriters) with my one or two finger rapid-fire method of typing, I have been going through some free on-line lessons to learn how to touch-type. I am glad to report that it is actually coming along quite well. I have become very familiar with which fingers to use for which keys and usually hit the correct ones. I haven’t totally forsaken my old ways yet, but I am slowly using this new skill more often as I get more comfortable with it and can do it more rapidly. Who says that “old dogs can’t learn new tricks”?

We should continue to learn and grow throughout our whole lives, including in the area of our spiritual lives and our relationship with the Lord. It can be easy to slip into an attitude of complacency – to slow down or stop altogether in seeking to know more about the Lord and His will for us or to quit moving forward in our spiritual growth.

In one of His more familiar declarations, Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). When we think of this passage, we tend to focus on the idea of Jesus helping carry our load and giving us rest. But be sure to notice something else Jesus says here – “learn from Me.” We are yoked with Jesus, like two oxen joined together, not just so He can relieve us of our burdens, but also so we can be with Him and learn from Him.

We aren’t just called to be believers in Jesus, those who put their trust in Him and in His sacrificial death as the means of our forgiveness and cleansing of sin. We are called to become disciples. Disciples are not only followers but students. Just as Jesus’ disciples spent time with Him and learned from Him, we are meant to keep learning from Jesus as we journey with Him through life. I am not just referring to learning more facts about Jesus, although an increase in such knowledge is included. Primarily, we need to know Jesus more personally through our daily experience of walking with Him. We may memorize Bible verses about faith, but we also need to learn about exercising faith by going through trials and facing challenges with Jesus yoked to us and showing us the way. We can read the wonderful description of love in I Corinthians 13 every day, but we also learn by letting Jesus teach us how to put it into practice as we encounter people around us who need to be shown the love of God.  

There is so much we have yet to learn about being like Jesus and becoming the disciples He has called us to be. Don’t stop learning and growing. Whether we are starting back to school or if those years are long behind us, we should all be seeking to be better students of our Lord. Take His yoke upon you – not just so He can give you rest, but so that you can be right there with Him, watching Him, leaning on Him, and learning from Him.