Process

There are those of us who want results without process.  Won't happen.  We want to understand the word of God better, but we are not willing to learn how to study it ourselves.  Or if we learn to study it, we do not continue to practice and stretch ourselves in the process.  We stay in the shallow end content to dabble our toes in the infinite depth of the Word, while congratulating ourselves that we are not like those who do not study.

We take far too much for granted in far too much of our lives.  We marry, and figure that being married will just work itself out.  We have children and figure that being a parent will just come naturally.  We go to church and figure that we will become Christ like by somehow being in the building and listening to someone tell us what they have learned about Christ.  That has not been my experience in any of those endeavors.  I find myself at a loss at how to be a good husband and a good father more times than not.  I find that it takes continual thought, continual prayer, continual work.  I find that I cannot survive on the spiritual meals that others eat.  I have to engage in all of this myself.  It is a never ending, ever deepening process.

The latest Christian conference or workshop, including mine, will not render you a spiritual giant.  Hopefully you will be equipped with some new skills.  But that equipping will not help you much if you do not engage in the practice of using the skills.  Getting the latest book or notebook may fill your shelves but it will not fill your life or solve your challenges.

Let me say this though, if you are going to conferences and workshops and you do not know how to study the Bible for yourself - by that I mean independent of a study Bible, a fill in the blank workbook, or a commentary – you are not doing yourself any favors.