And another week has begun.

We are into our third week of Summer. A summer, I am hoping, to be packed with learning and sweet memories for my GRANDS to carry with them through their lives.

There is a skill to learning, don’t you know? A most valuable skill, wouldn’t you say? And my GRANDS are not the only ones needing to learn the skill of learning.  And I know just the Teacher!  And I believe the steps to learning have been revealed to us. THE TEACHER used them Himself. Here let me share with you what I have found.

Luke 2

Remember the account of JESUS at twelve? Joseph and Mary left Jerusalem thinking He was within the caravan with some of His cousins. And when it came time to make camp for the night, naturally they went looking for Him. And when they did not find Him they returned to Jerusalem. Can you imagine the horror of not finding Him for three days?? I mean think of it! You have been entrusted with GOD’s SON and you can’t find Him?!  Seriously, what Mother’s heart would not be in a gut-wrenching panic even for a moment of not knowing where is her child – much less THREE DAYS?!

Finally, they go to the Temple and there He is!

Learning! 

46 Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. via Luke 2 NASB – Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem – Now in – Bible Gateway.

Three words, in particular, are my focus for this message.

Sitting. Listening. Asking

The steps to learning.

SIT.
To learn anything. Scripture. Math. Science. How to cut hair. You name it. Learning requires us to POSITION ourselves. To be still. Sit! Put ourselves in an environment conducive to the art of what we wish to learn.  JESUS was in the Temple. Smart move. We could learn a lot from this 12-year-old GOD-BOY!

LISTEN.
JESUS was not sitting there checking His Facebook, or playing a game on His iPad or iPod.  He was listening. He gave the teachers His attention! He heard their words. He considered what they said. He played the words, the concepts, the ideas in His mind examining them. He listened. We have to LISTEN if we expect to learn.  JESUS did. And if GOD did. Who are we not to?

Perhaps we don’t like the concept of JESUS learning; because learning denotes there is something we do not know and didn’t JESUS know everything?  As the GOD-INFANT, GOD-TODDLER, GOD-CHILD, GOD-BOY?  No, He didn’t. HE LEARNED. He allowed Himself to be limited because we humans are limited. He learned.  So can we, following His practice – Sit. Listen.

ASK.
If we sit. If we listen. We will surely have questions. Sometimes I have questions but I don’t ask. I don’t ask because I don’t want to appear ignorant. There’s a word for that kind of ignorance – PRIDE. I need to learn better.  :)  And I will.  JESUS modeled the pattern for us. The least we could do is use it!

Sit. Listen. Ask.

Simple isn’t it? And there is no art of schooling to which we cannot apply it.

Sit. Listen. Ask.

I am glad to be learning this — aren’t you?

We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,

Thank You, JESUS, for this simple and profound tool of learning; help us practice it well for Your glory and our good. Thank You, Father, for each soul who comes here to read and to pray. I am asking You to bless them for coming; whatever their needs I pray they will find You faithful today.  I pray for strength and courage, wisdom and discernment, peace and security, and for our sick and afflicted I pray You will heal them and for the wayward and rebellious I am thanking You that You will not give up on them and You are continuing to pursue them. I pray, HOLY SPIRIT, for You to help them repent.  And we remember Israel, praying for peace and safety, and for America, we pray for a great awakening unto repentance. Thank You, Father, for perfecting Your saints in JESUS’ name. Amen and amen.