This morning four of us gathered online for our Tuesday morning Bible study. We were looking at the first several chapters of Jeremiah. We have a new addition to the study. He is a soldier who has been medically discharged. I am not aware of the medical issues, I have not asked, it is enough that he served and was wounded. He is in the ministry of one of the guys in the study. He is about a third of our age.
The way we conduct the study, one of us shares basically uninterrupted what they got out of their study. We rotate who starts. This morning it was the new guy's turn to start. He started by saying that he was not as good as we are, essentially apologizing in advance for what he saw. The three oldies but goodies just about went through the screen at him all at once. We told him that what he saw was just as important as what we saw.
Thinking about that later this afternoon it occurs to me that we all do what he did to some extent. We evaluate what someone sees in the Word of God, what they can contribute, based on our perception of their maturity in Christ or their grasp of the Word of God. Wrong.
I have written several times here about John 16:13. One of the roles of the Spirit is to lead believers into all truth, to help us understand the Word of God. Romans 8:9 tells us that all of us who have trusted Christ have the Holy Spirit. It does not say that we have part of the Spirit. It says that we have the Spirit. So there isn’t versions. A new believer does not have the beta version of the Spirit. Someone older in the Lord with more Bible study under their belt does not have version 1.0 of the Spirit. The three of us oldies do not have version 2.0 or higher. There is only one Spirit. Like the rest of the Trinity, He does not change.
The point is that the Spirit can and does show things in the Word to those who are “new” to this Christian life that someone “older” may miss.
The new guy in the study and in the Lord has as much to contribute as the seasoned believer. Matter of fact for those of us that are seasoned, it is our job to reinforce that truth and encourage the “new” person, to draw them out, and get excited about what they see in the Word of God. We should know that we do not know it all. After all God’s thoughts are higher than ours or so Isaiah 55:9 suggests. The new guy just maybe probably will see something we have not glimpsed yet.
Thinking about that later this afternoon it occurs to me that we all do what he did to some extent. We evaluate what someone sees in the Word of God, what they can contribute, based on our perception of their maturity in Christ or their grasp of the Word of God. Wrong.
I have written several times here about John 16:13. One of the roles of the Spirit is to lead believers into all truth, to help us understand the Word of God. Romans 8:9 tells us that all of us who have trusted Christ have the Holy Spirit. It does not say that we have part of the Spirit. It says that we have the Spirit. So there isn’t versions. A new believer does not have the beta version of the Spirit. Someone older in the Lord with more Bible study under their belt does not have version 1.0 of the Spirit. The three of us oldies do not have version 2.0 or higher. There is only one Spirit. Like the rest of the Trinity, He does not change.
The point is that the Spirit can and does show things in the Word to those who are “new” to this Christian life that someone “older” may miss.
The new guy in the study and in the Lord has as much to contribute as the seasoned believer. Matter of fact for those of us that are seasoned, it is our job to reinforce that truth and encourage the “new” person, to draw them out, and get excited about what they see in the Word of God. We should know that we do not know it all. After all God’s thoughts are higher than ours or so Isaiah 55:9 suggests. The new guy just maybe probably will see something we have not glimpsed yet.
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