A Christian friend recently had a water leak in the wall behind her washing machine. She called a plumber after self-efforts to resolve the problem failed. She watched him carefully as he worked to make the necessary repairs. Then paid the exorbitant $450 bill. She mentioned that by following his every step, she could have achieved the same result. Furthermore, it was the very thing she thought needed to be done.
The last point in the subject of this blog. The difference in a professional—meaning a person who achieves the desired outcome in the shortest amount of time—and the person hiring his expertise, exists in the difference between Thinking and Knowing what needs to be done and doing it. The plumber DID and our friend WATCHED. Practical points gleaned. First, whether she could afterwards have followed his skilled steps may be open to question, though possible. But not at the speed he accomplished it. Second, he knew through expertise-gained experience what she only thought should be done. Spiritual points. First, Jesus, the Master Teacher, knew how to pray. The disciples learned HOW by seeing him pray and asking for a lesson Luke 11:1. Which he gave. Which his disciples have followed, finding direction and satisfaction in prayer to God. Second, like our friend with the plumber, the disciples could never have been able to PRAY AS Jesus did in John 17. Only he could pray that way, being privy to the infinity of the Godhead, a point still true. Who, when reading John 17, doesn’t understand the spiritual distance between Jesus and us? Third, consider Simon Peter’s willingness to outdistance the Law by forgiving offenders SEVEN times Matthw 18:21. Only to discover the Master’s goal being unlimited times, Matthew 18:22-35, a matchless parable fortifying his teaching. And so on, Matthew 16:21-23, 26:33-35, two of many more examples. Proving the wisdom of Robert Schuller’s words: when you need an expert, HIRE it, not BE it. Especially in the spiritual realm, where mankind has always instinctively made its own rules. Only to find GOD doesn’t care what our rules are, since he has made HIS OWN, including accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. No other way exists to enter God’s Presence John 14:6. Therefore, so much for the critics who say the disciples:
That’s another subject. Bye for now. V
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