Testing Comes After The Instruction

Throughout the New Testament, we see many parables. The parables were simple stories Jesus used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson in the Gospels. Their purpose is for us to focus on God and his kingdom. These stories reveal the character of God: what He is like, how He works, and what He expects from his followers. (Zavada, 2020)

In addition to the parables, there are so many other lessons God teaches us in His word. The Bible states in 2 Timothy 3:16-17,

“¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

God’s ultimate goal is to grow us up in Him. This growth process includes lessons as well as testing. Much like students in a classroom, a teacher will first teach a lesson and then test us on that lesson to see if we were truly paying attention and learning what we were being taught. If the majority of the class passes the test, but a few students fail the test, with all other things being equal, the teacher can only deduce that the student was not paying attention when the lesson or principle was being taught. In the same way, God also allows us to experience challenges or testing to see if we have allowed His word to become “real” to us in order to mature us and strengthen our spiritual muscles.

We don’t get to forgo the test just because we may choose not to listen to the lesson when it is being taught.

As we saw in the scripture earlier, all scripture is the inspiration of God and is profitable for instruction in righteousness.

Beloved, I encourage you to focus your eyes, tune your ears, and open your hearts to really pay attention to the lessons God is teaching us. You will surely have a testing period and if you have been learning the lessons, you will begin to see success when testing time comes!

This is Leslie Eaddy Brooks, Think About It.

Zavada, Jack, (2020, August 28)  

(What Is a Parable? https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-a-parable-700744)