“For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10)
Study, practice, teach. Ezra’s example gives us three tasks and the order they should go in.
We study first because you can’t practice or teach what you don’t know. Many people have failed at faith because they forgot that faith comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17) and that you can’t believe in what you don’t know. When we study, we learn who God really is and what He really wants, not what we might imagine His desires and will to be.
After we study, we practice. Forget about teaching others if you haven’t practiced what you preach first. Christians live Christ’s laws because we study for our own service first. I work out my own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Practice what you study. Practice turns theory into reality. Turns out that living for Jesus is a lot harder than talking about living for Jesus. It’s a lot more rewarding, too.
And then we teach. We teach because we can’t help but speak of Him who we know and love. We teach because we realize how much hope Christ offers to this dying world of joyless drudgery. We teach because we know it makes Him happy when we shine His light and help others who want to study and practice, too.
Study, practice, teach – those tasks, that order.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites