What are you learning lately?

Once upon a time, I went on a retreat with my university's chapter of InterVarsity and a few hundred other IVCF members. The guy leading my small group told us the story of his and his wife's acquaintanceship. Apparently he had left a very unfavorable first impression on her, but despite her rebuff he stayed interested in her. (Don't go away. This is not a post on Christian dating. Stay with me!) So one day he's on Facebook and sees that she is online, so he messages her, "Hi!" She responds, "What has Jesus been teaching you lately?"

I heard that story quite a few years ago now, but that line is tucked away in my memory indelibly. You see, if that guy did not have an answer ready, he might not be married today. Again, this is not a post on dating. Or marriage. Or Christian pick-up lines. It is a post on learning. Christians all know somewhere in their minds that they should read the Bible. I read the Bible. But sometimes I have to ask myself: am I learning? am I paying attention or skimming verses? am I asking for the Lord to "open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things out of thy word"?

Some mornings I share a devotional with my homeroom students. Some mornings I'm not expecting to share a devotional, but for any number of reasons (like my own forgetfulness) I find that I am. My students don't have a question for me to answer, so I ask myself, "What has Jesus been teaching you lately?" Unless I have been faithfully reading and studying the Word, taking it in thoughtfully and prayerfully and delightedly, I do not have an answer ready. What kind of witness is that to much younger Christians?

Last time: the point of my comment is not that a Christian should have an answer ready so he or she can impress a Christian of the opposite gender. Or anyone else for that matter. No no no.

But I should know what I'm learning lately. If I don't, I have to take a step back and ask myself if I'm learning at all. There is, after all, so much to learn at the feet of Jesus.