Monthly Devotional

Content Taught

September 2007

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the lord and find the knowledge of God.
(Proverbs 2:1-5)

Each quarter my daughters bring home a report card with a PE grade for: Demonstrates skills and content taught. After five years of consistently earning a “2” (Achieving), my ten-year-old and I joked that the PE teacher must believe few should earn a “1” (Excelling). Although Christine hadn’t seemed troubled by her inability to raise the score, she quietly responded, “I thought I had been happily taught. I thought I was positive.” Christine seemed confused why the teacher might question her attitude. And then it dawned on me. My daughter had the emphasis on the wrong syllable. Instead of CONtent, Christine read conTENT. Demonstrates skills and conTENT taught.

What about us? Are we conTENT taught? Would our progress be described as:

• Excelling
• Achieving
• Needs to Improve or
• Unsatisfactory

And what about CONtent taught? Do we learn new skills and material? In Psalm 119, the psalmist cries out TEN times “Teach me.” Perhaps “Teach me! Should be our fall plea.

But being taught also necessitates that we demonstrate the skills and content taught. So perhaps both conTENT and CONtent pronunciations are necessary. We need to be happily taught and also demonstrate what God is teaching us —as James cautions.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)

Dear Lord, may “Teach Me” be my plea!

“Show me your ways, O lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (Psalm 25:4-5)

Copyright © 2007 - Ann Marie Stewart. All rights reserved.

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