[Biblemat] A) NO PROGRESS WITHOUT PRACTICE

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Thursday
morning to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.
Here is an article from my files:

NO PROGRESS WITHOUT PRACTICE

     It is foolish to think that we can make progress in the hab-
its of godliness by doing nothing more than listening and learning.  While 
these are essentials, they are not enough.  It
takes practice to make progress, and we should not expect
that to be any less true in spiritual matters than in those of a
worldly nature.

     When we meet individuals who have become adept at the
disciplines of the godly life, we often suppose that they're
just mroe devout than we are.  Or perhaps we think that they'
re more intelligent or insightful.  Or we wish that we could have read the 
books and heard the sermons that they've read
and heard.  But when we think this way, we betray an ignoran-
ce of the real thing that produces spiritual progress: practice.
The trait that distinguishes the adept from the inept is that
the adept have done certain things...over and over, every day, for many years.

     Prayer: -- Not all of our prayers are of equal quality.  Keep-
ing in mind a scriptural definition of "good" praying, it must
be said that we do not pray as well at some times as at others
Paul mentioned that "we do not know what we should pray
for as we ought" (Rom. 8:21), and the disciples asked Jesus,
"Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples"
(Lk. 11:1).

     But how do you make progress in your prayer life?  Well,
we certainly need to learn all that we can about the principle
of prayer, but the time comes when we have to start practic-
ing the art of prayer.  It can't be learned any other way than 
by praying...over and over and over, every day, for many 
years.

     Understanding: -- It would be hard to overestimate the im-
portance of Bible study, but frankly, some people do a better
job than others of correctly understanding what the Bible
teaches.  The Ethiopian eunuch, for example, was reading the
fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, but he was having trouble under-
standing what the passage meant (Acts 8:30-34).  So we need
to work not only on the quantity but also the quality of our 
Bible study. (2 Tim. 2:15).

     But how do you make progress in your understanding of
the Scriptures?  It can't be done by the simple investigation
of hermeneutics.  It requires patient repetition of the act of
Bible study.  You're not likely to find a mature, responisble
student of God's Word who arrived at that point any other
way than by doing Bible study...over and over and over, every day, for many 
years.

     Discretion: -- Isn't it refreshing when we encounter some
older Christian who has grown very wise in matters of discret-
ion and discernment?  In a good sense, don't we "envy" those who have learned 
how to size up a difficult situation
and see which course of action is best to take?  Surely we do, and of all the 
abilities we need in this life, none is more
vital than the ability to take God's general principles, apply
them to a specific situation, and discern what God would want done.  Paul 
wrote, "Do not be unwise, but understand
what the Will of the Lord is" (Eph. 5:17).

     But how do you learn to be a better decision maker?  There is only one 
way, and the Hebrew writer put his finger
on it when he spoke of those "who by reason of use have their senses 
exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb. 5:
14).

     In matters of godliness, then, there aren't many effective
shortcuts.  Being a beginner is just hard; that's all there is to
it.  Some time will have to pass before we can be more skilled.
But the passage of time will not, by itself, guarantee improve-
ment (Heb. 5:12); we have to actually do the things that need
improving -- and do them repeatedly.  So let's look for every
opportunity to practice the things we want to improve.  God
deserves nothing less than our very best, and the best that
we can do won't be done unless we pray and study our Bibles
and use our discretion -- over and over and over, every day,
for many years.   ------- Gary Henry via Gospel Power, Vol. 14,
No. 34, August 26, 2007.   </HTML>
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