going from the classroom to the real world

I've been reflecting lately on some of the things I have written on this blog. They're things that don't necessarily sound easy to live out, but writing about them sounds good. They're the "right things" to say. They're the truth about what God has to say through His Word. But, that doesn't change the fact that moving from the classroom with these things into the real world can be a challenge.

When we finally have an understanding of what something looks like, it may seem like we're done. But, that is very often the time that God is looking for us to put what we learned into practice. God doesn't teach us things so that we have more knowledge. He teaches us things so that they become part of a transformed life. We have to act on those things we learn.

We have to take what we learned in the classroom into the real world. In some ways, it's like what happens when we finally finish our education and get a job that uses it. We take what we learned in the classroom and we start to put it to use in everyday life. It does us no good at that point to keep what we learned in our heads. We cannot do our jobs well if we do that. We have to put it into practice.

And it is the same with what we learn as we walk with God. What we learn doesn't ultimately do us any good if it just stays in our heads. We have to learn how to use what we learn in everyday life.