Education begins with WHO you know . . .

My mother-in-law noted my eagerness to study and learn and once said, “I don’t understand why anyone would want to go to school when they didn’t have to.” Mom didn’t understand that teacher-types love learning.

My granddaughter and I share this desire. She says she cannot read enough books or learn enough new information. In my study of spiritual gifts, I’ve learned that this describes the teaching gift in Romans 12. It is about gathering and sharing information, yet not always in a formal way. Librarians, researchers, and other people may have the gift but not the title. In a spiritual sense, it is wanting people to know the truth, think the truth, and live the truth.

This was true of Peter. The key word in his second epistle is knowledge occurring twelve times in its various forms:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:2–3)

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness. (2 Peter 1:5–6)

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:8)

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1:16)

Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20–21)

Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. (2 Peter 3:3)

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:17–18)

As I read these verses about knowledge, I’m pleasantly surprised that they form an outline of the book, beginning with the need to know Christ for salvation, then to add knowledge for spiritual growth, then to verify the source of knowledge, and at the end Peter’s warning about false teaching and the need to keep growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Peter also stresses the importance of remembering certain things:

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. (2 Peter 1:12–15)

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder . . . (2 Peter 3:1)

This points to my tendency to forget. This is not about dementia or a trait of teacher-types; it is part of what it means to be a sinner. I forget, partly because the desire to run my own life is strong and partly because I tend to rush on to the next thing without putting into practice the current thing (and that is a characteristic of teacher-types). For this, Peter shows the danger of forgetting and the need to practice what I’ve learned:

For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. (2 Peter 1:9–10)

He also reminds me that my timing (hurry, rush, do it now) is not the same as God’s timing. For this, I need the patience that come with a deeper knowledge of God:

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3:8)

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Lord Jesus, today I felt heavy but the burdens were vague, unclear. This is good indication that the enemy is trying to pull me down. You are never fuzzy when You put a burden on my heart, nor is that weight heavy. Today is my weekly time to spend a couple hours in prayer with others. We have had remarkable answers and yet some of us have been in dark and troublesome spiritual battles. I know the answers to this from Your Word and need to put those answers into practice, praying first for protection and deliverance from the evil one. Thank You for Your loving care and for teaching me that sometimes a cloudy morning means great sonshine later on!

Today’s thankful list . . .

- God’s faithfulness to keep reminding me to put into practice what I must not forget.

- praying almost always clears the fuzz!

- sweet fellowship also removes weighty worries.

- a nice call from a customer who bought a quilt pattern from me.

- an afternoon to catch up chores and work on a charity quilt.

- food in the frig and a warm place to live.

- so many blessings.