Attitude Is Everything
Attitude
As with everything else in life, in Bible study, our attitude determines our outcome. Much of what Jesus taught his disciples had to do with attitude. Several of these important attitudes are found in what we call, “The Beatitudes”. They are found at the beginning of a lengthy discourse Jesus gave to his followers recorded in Matthew chapters five through seven. Let’s look at a few of these.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” - Matthew 5:3 (NIV)
“Poor in spirit,” means we recognize that without God we are nothing; we live in spiritual poverty. If we are content and satisfied because of our status, our pride, our pleasures, our things, or whatever, then God cannot fill us with Himself. The fact is that without God we have nothing. We have to understand this before God can do anything for us. If we are full of ourselves or full of the distractions of this world, we become blind to our true needs. We also become blind to God’s word. We may see the words on the page but they will not be able to penetrate our hearts.
Are You Hungry?
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.” - Matthew 5: 6 (NIV)
Are you hungry for God’s word? Are you hungry to know God and know that you are right with Him? Are you hungry to live in the sunshine of His love and grace? Are you hungry to have God cleanse you from all your sins and create in you the person you were meant to be?
A mild curiosity for the life God offers us will not get us very far. The fact is, we have to be desperately hungry for God and the things he offers us if we expect to make it our own.
The Parable of the Sower
In Luke chapter 8 Jesus gave his followers a parable, (a brief story that has a spiritual lesson) about a farmer who went out into his fields to sow seed. He scattered the seed everywhere. The seed fell on different kinds of soil. After he spoke the parable, he explained to his followers the spiritual meaning:
“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” - Luke 8:11-15 (NIV)
As we study the Bible, the word of God falls upon our hearts and minds, just as in the parable. It is up to us to decide what kind of ground we want to be. Are we “the rocky ground”? That is, are we going to get all excited about the gospel only to let it die out soon after because we did not patiently allow it to grow deep into our hearts.
Are we the ground with lots of weeds in it? That is, will the cares and concerns of our busy life choke out our faith as time goes by? As you can see, our attitude determins our outcome. Will we receive God's word and allow it to grow in our heart or will we let it die out? The choice is ours.
Our Spiritual Compass
Man is born with an internal spiritual compass: our conscience. The conscience should guide us in the right direction. But our conscience needs to be educated. We can either let the world teach us right from wrong, or we can let God teach us through his word. The choice is ours. Jesus compared our conscience to our physical eyes:
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” -Matthew 6:22 (NIV)
Our pride tries to convince us that we are perfectly capable of running our own lives and that we don’t need God telling us what to do. The Bible says otherwise:
“I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own;
no one who walks directs his own steps.”
Jeremiah 10:23 (NIV)
Before we can know Jesus as our savior, we must know him as our Lord. We must allow him to train us in what is good and what is evil. We must strive to become like him in every way. The followers of Jesus were called "disciples" because they were being trained and disciplined by their teacher. Like a good solider, we must learn to listen to the voice of our commander and his voice only. Jesus once said,
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." - John 10:27 (NIV)
The Example of Apollos
It is said that it is harder to “unlearn” something than to learn something. Pride can be a deadly obstacle when it comes to a study of God’s word. How hard it is to admit that we were wrong about something. We feel confident and comfortable with what we believe and perhaps have even taught others. Coming to terms with the idea that we need to adjust our thinking about something can be very difficult. I believe that’s why God gave us a great example in the person of Apollos found in the book of Acts.
“Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.”
- Acts 18:24 (NIV)
Apollos was a learned and sincere man who was trying his best to do God's will and teach others as well. But Apollos' greatest personal caricteristic was his humility. When he found out that he was in error concerning baptism he quickly corrected the problem and went forward. As a result we learn that Apollos became, “... a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.” - Acts 18: 27-28 (NIV)
This is the attitude that we must have if we are to become true students of God’s word.