November 3: Of Effort

Ezekiel 7:1-9:11

Hebrews 5:1-14

Psalm 105:1-15

Proverbs 26:28

Hebrews 5:11: We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.

There was as a brief period where I thought all I had to do was sit in class and I would learn.  It didn't work.  Turned out, being there wasn't enough - to learn from the professor, I had to make an effort - to read the material he assigned, listen to his lectures, engage him in discussion, share the experience with my classmates, and struggle through the tests he gave. When I did that, at the end of the semester, I learned what the professor wanted me to learn. 

A relationship with God develops the same way.  God is there.  He's given us the material to read.  He wants us to engage Him in prayer.  He gives us people with which to share our experiences, so we might learn even more, through them.  And He sends us the tests He thinks necessary for us to learn the material, to build the relationship with Him.  

Just as it hurts our efforts to learn when we do not engage with the professor, it hurts our ability to get to know God if we do not engage with Him - for whatever reason.  "It's too difficult." "I don't have time."  "I have so many other things to do." Or the really delusional one I've used often enough - "I already know this stuff."  Whatever the excuse, the outcome is the same - no effort, no outcome.   Bad enough when we act that way in school, we lose a semester's worth of learning, tuition and fees.  Far worse when we act that way towards God.

Father, when we are tempted to arrogance or to laziness, remind us how little we understand, and of how much more we can get to know You, grow to love You, and learn to walk with You.