by A.W. Tozer

Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. Deuteronomy 5:1

The school into which we Christians are introduced furnishes many lessons, all taught by the wisest of all teachers; but everything depends upon how we respond to them. Unfortunately many of us learn little and soon forget what little we may have learned. We can hear great preaching, as Demas heard Paul, without profit; we can meet saintly Christians without becoming stimulated to seek to live holier lives; we can see miraculous answers to prayer and be none the better for it. The providential circumstances set up the lessons; the Teacher is wise and patient; only the disciple fails to profit.

A child who through negligence learns nothing in school is guilty of practicing serious waste. He is wasting the money furnished by his parents or the taxpayers, and the gifts and energies of everyone associated with the effort to teach him are wasted as well. And much the same thing may be said of the dullard Christian. He is wasting the painstaking efforts of every pastor or teacher who tries to help him.

There have been a few noble souls who have managed to break through into a place of great spiritual power and purity with scarcely anyone to help them and with but the scantiest educational equipment to assist them in their search for God and holy things. Ought we not to be ashamed who are surrounded with such a wealth of aids and still learn so little?

And how much suffering is wasted on us. Chastisement is a stern teacher, but there are great riches to be gained in her school. It is critically important that we enter that school with humble hearts and open minds.

Yes, it is possible to go through school without learning anything. For all of us the final bell will ring soon. We had better do some hard studying before that time comes.

by A.W. Tozer