Said The Student To His Teacher
“Make me to know your ways O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. For you I wait all the day long.” Psalm 25:4-5
Have you ever had a mentor, someone you looked up to for some reason? Was she that teacher who paid special attention to you and helped you work through something difficult? Perhaps yours was a coach who helped you become all that you could be. In some families grandpa mentored, teaching boys to hunt, fish, treat girls right and so on. Yes in life we may have mentors and we can learn much from them.
The Psalmist here expresses a desire to learn. He looks to God as his mentor. His prayer speaks of a willingness to listen and learn. Life is his schoolhouse and he isn’t looking for a way of escape. Instead he addresses his mentor and expresses his desire to learn all that he can. Oh that we might see God as our mentor.
Life and learning go together like a hand and a glove. You will learn even if you don’t learn from God. We get our behaviors in part from those we watch or admire. That said what about this Psalm and the idea that God wants to be our mentor? Will you be his student? Will you listen and learn or do you think you already know? You remain in the school of life, so why not keep learning? You haven’t graduated from life yet. Look to the great teacher. He will provide you with the best example, instruct you in what to do, even encourage you when the lessons feel too hard. Our great teacher wants to instruct us in his ways so that life for us will be what God desires for us. Will you skip school or stay and listen?
As I consider this message I asked myself, how do we who say we believe skip school? Here I share a couple of answers.
1. Given homework so to speak, a hard life problem, do we simply want it gone or do we seek to learn what he may have for us in this lesson?
2. Do we always want a quick fix?
3. When life gets hard do we complain, blame God, even turn away from what we know to be good or right?
May we who claim to trust God come to our Teacher desiring to learn and grow. Life school may have times when we can enjoy the playground, however, life is about the learning, not about the constant pleasure. If you want to please your Teacher and succeed in real and even eternal life then you must become a student, listening and learning the lessons God brings each day.
These morning meditations written by Christian believer and author, Patricia Hawkins, who offers these meditations for your personal edification. You may contact Patricia at prayerpartnerpat@gmail.com.