Articles
I've Learned Enough
During their conversation at a dinner party, Albert Einstein's young neighbor asked the white-haired scientist, "What are you actually by profession?" "I devote myself to the study of physics," Einstein replied. The girl looked at him in astonishment. "You mean to say you study physics at your age?" she exclaimed. "I finished studying physics a year ago” (Today in the Word, September 25, 1992).
It's a pretty common mindset. Any student in school longs for the day when they can “finish.” Maybe a student is excited for the day when he can stop taking math classes. Perhaps another student looks forward to being done with college, so she doesn’t have to take classes anymore. In general, there is an excitement to “stop learning.” Unfortunately, if we aren’t learning and growing, we are becoming stagnant and outdated.
Unfortunately, this also happens spiritually. Maybe at one point, a Christian was very dedicated to studying God’s word and developing great spiritual habits, but now that Christian is coasting. We need to be reminded that God commands spiritual growth (Ephesians 4:14-16; Hebrews 5:12:14;). He calls for us to “increase in knowledge” (Colossians 1:9-10), to “grow in respect to salvation” as well as to grow in “grace and knowledge” (2 Peter 2:1-2; 3:18). We cannot grow spiritually stagnant.
There is no doubt that Einstein was a lifelong learner. He understood that there was always room to grow and more to learn. Similarly, Paul, late in his life, even though his knowledge and spirituality were incredible, asked for Timothy to bring him the books and parchments (2 Timothy 4:13). Paul wanted to keep learning.
Let’s never allow ourselves to get to the point where we think we have learned and grown enough spiritually.
