Today I walked into the office and I was actually here before everyone else. That is new for me. Anyway, as I was walking to my office, Bill Goodpasture came in the door. Ok, so I just beat him to the office. AS he walked in a women from the church was there. I know what you are thinking, she got here at the same time as me, but she doesn’t work here so she doesn’t count. She told Bill, “I finally figured out why I like you so much.” She was speaking about his preaching. She said something like, I like your preaching because you study for yourself and not just to preach what you have read. At first that sounds weird and my explanation may not be the best, but as I realized what she was saying , I really liked her compliment. She was trying to tell Bill that his preaching is great because he studies and works for himself before he preaches to everyone else. Bill puts in the time and effort to really learn on him own. He is not just tell everyone what someone else said, but taking the time to understand and then share his knowledge with everyone else.
This may sound strange and you may think that all preachers do that, but I don’t think so. I believe many preachers just focus on that preaching part and not the studying and understanding part. These ministers are going through the motions and not trying to make difficult things seem simple. That is the test of a really good minister. If he can take a difficult passage or topic and make it simple for others to understand, then he is a good preacher. He is doing exactly what Jesus did. Jesus made difficult things easy for everyone and when they still didn’t get it, he made it even easier for them.
So now you are wondering how this matters to you because you are not a preacher or a teacher. Well, you see we are all Christians and we are all supposed to study and learn about God. First, for ourselves so that we can live the way God wants. And second, because we are to show the world what we have learned and how they are supposed to live. If a person claims to be a Christian and they do not study for themselves, then they will not be able to show others what they have learned by the way they live. Just like a preacher you would be going through the motions and not really doing your job. This person makes everything about them and not about God. So let us learn to study for ourselves and then to show others how they should live.
Posted by widebodys 