Читать книгу Mustard Seeds - Melissa Levi - Страница 11

Making the Grade

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:19

A couple of weeks ago I had lunch with my mom at Mt Vernon Restaurant. I wasn’t just excited because of the Amaretto Pie (yum) but because this was the first time my mom and I had met for lunch. I would have her to myself. No brother or sister or most importantly grandkids to vie for her attention. I wanted to look good, exude professionalism and be everything that she would want me to be. I changed outfits three times before I made the decision of what I would wear.

We met outside the Chattanooga landmark and once seated we enjoyed catching up on what was going on with everyone. We giggled and I made her roll her eyes, which is always fun. I shared with her about my studies at Old Bethel. I attempted to dazzle her with my newfound knowledge and good grades. As any good mom would, she nodded and smiled and took it all in.

When I finally took time for a breath, she said. “You know I think that what you are doing is great and you don’t need to worry about keeping 4.0 you have a lot going on with your job and the girls.”

She paused and took a bite of her salad; I followed eagerly chewing waiting for her next words.

She continued. “Mostly, you need to remember that all the classes and the test and the grades will never take the place of faith. Don’t get so caught up in the studies that you forget that God is a mystery and you will never be able to comprehend Him or understand His ways. You were never meant to because it is about faith in Him and Jesus’ sacrifice.”

We talked about many more things after that. We laughed more and then the pie came, our favorite part. I took what she said with me, and I thought about it. Had I become so focused on the grade and spouting the facts I had learned that I was missing the whole point of my classes.

I began to pray and look inward to see what had become my motivation. I think she was right; I was more worried about the grade than the lesson. I was focused on the number and not the message. I worried what the teacher, the other students, my family and my friends would think if I did not score high on every test.

College isn’t about the degree or the grade. It is about the knowledge and understanding to be the best we can be in the Lord’s army. It’s training and conditioning for the daily warfare that we meet every time our feet touch the floor.

Every class is more than facts or history it is a deeper understanding of the grand plan that God has set in motion and my role in it. The classes are spiritual and filled with fellowship as together we search what lessons and treasures the Lord’s Word has for us.

I think we get caught up in the rating. We think that the grade somehow defines us as a person, assigns some sort of value to us and when we do not meet that perceived idea of intelligence we allow ourselves to doubt. Doubt our worth, question our abilities and worse we let Satan creep into that crack and tell us we couldn’t possibly be wanted or used for God’s glory. After all, we couldn’t pass with a good grade.

Throughout life there are grades to be made, deadlines to meet, people to impress and images to be polished. But not in God’s eyes. He does not assign your worth by your grades, your image or whether or not you’ve impressed HIM. Rather, your worth can not be defined or measured, nor is your value proved by a diploma, but by the precious blood spilt for you. Before you opened your first reader or learned your first Bible verse, you were worth the sacrifice of His Son.

Don’t worry about the grade, your image or the “sheep skin”. Take the lesson of the class with you that cannot be measured or proved by a test. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8