Scripture teaches us:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. -2 Timothy 3:16-17
I’m not sure how these verses move you, but I will claim that it is time for all of us to go back to school. The hope that these versus give to me is that God’s people are equipped through scripture to live faithful lives in the world. God’s word is God’s promise to us. But how many of us know the scriptures that have been placed in our hands?
Back to school is not just a slogan to admit that summer is over or that Kohl’s is having a sale on everything, it is a recognition that we need to crack open our Bibles and hear God’s voice in daily living. The Bible is to the Spirit what food is to the body. You have to eat, so too, you have to be fed. The verses above describe that Scripture helps teach or reveal who God is, rebuke or offer correction to our living, and trains us in righteousness or loving how Christ loved. In this way, the promise to us in going back to school is to be equipped for every good work. Just as school equips students for the world they enter, we are equipped to change our lives, our minds and our communities with the God’s promises.
Faith formation is not about head knowledge but about relationship. Going back to school is signing up for lessons with the master craftsman, to be the student of the savior. Going back to school is rededicating our lives to the one who has given us life, abundant and eternal. - Praying Attention - Pastor Andy