Symbol: Complete
training
Lesson: Limiting
our spiritual growth can result in disappointment.
Illustration:
Two men are preparing for bicycle race, but the weather was rainy most of the
time. So one of them decided he didn't want to deal with the inclement weather
and opted to ride a stationary bike indoors. He reasoned that he could still
build muscle & endurance and be fully prepared for the race. The second
rider decided to ride in the rain every day. The first one constantly teased
the second for being "such a dummy."
However, on the day of the race, the first one didn't know the turns,
the potholes, the soft-shoulder and/or sandy areas or any of the other numerous
road conditions. So what good was strength & endurance to him when he
neglected other practical training?
Likewise studying & going
to meetings are of no value if you neglect practical application.
(1 Corinthians 13:1-4) If I
speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a
sounding [piece of] brass or a clashing cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of
prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge,
and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains, but do not have
love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I
hand over my body, that I may boast, but do not have love, I am not profited at
all. 4 Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag,
does not get puffed up,
(Matthew 23:23) Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you give the tenth of the mint and
the dill and the cumin, but you have disregarded the weightier matters of the
Law, namely, justice and mercy and faithfulness. These things it was binding to
do, yet not to disregard the other things.
Notes: At
times we are criticized for our public ministry. Yet this ministry builds
character and knowledge in ways that others have no understanding of.
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