by Mark Bethea

Last night sitting in a lecture, I had a staggering realization: I have spent 19 of my 24 years of human existence attending school. From a wide-eyed boy walking into a kindergarten classroom with Mrs. Karnagey to a nervous young man sitting in lectures on Greek grammar, it was and is very apparent—I still have a lot to learn.

Is it not interesting that we spend so much of our lives in classrooms, Sunday School spaces, lecture halls, sanctuaries and seminars but actually learn so little? Our minds get increasingly puffed with knowledge as the time ticks away, but what happens to our hearts and how does it affect our actions?

It is unthinkable the amount of sermons and Bible studies that many of us have sat through over the years, but what is even more staggering is the lack of learning that is taking place in our hearts. Yes, we may learn a new tidbit here or there, but we have not truly learned anything until it hits our limbs.

Jesus taught in such a way that required some sort of response. Whether it be to repent, to follow, to give, to listen, to trust, to share, to change, to give up, to deny, to forgive, to love or to just go, Jesus knew that hearing the information just was not enough. You cannot simply listen to Jesus and have that be the end. In John 13, we see the most beautiful example of Jesus’ teaching style with His disciples.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:12-17).

Did Jesus expect the disciples to take what they had just witnessed and act on it? Absolutely! This is the purpose of teaching and learning. We see or hear new information and we act on it.

Too often, we hold classes, studies and groups on the ideas behind Jesus’ principles instead of enacting them in our hearts, hands and feet. It is far too easy to talk and listen, but so much harder to do.

Nonetheless, this is our calling. As believers in Jesus Christ as our only hope of salvation, we are called to go into the world and show the love that God has given us to a world so desperately in need of divine love.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says (James 1:22).

Today, read, listen and hear, but more importantly apply.
Let the Scriptures saturate your heart and flow to your feet.

All Scripture taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.