“Even incredibly vital information doesn't stick unless we're convinced that it's important to know.”

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-10) from his book, Spirituality for the Rest of Us: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Knowing God (p. 57). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book)

Have you found that true? I mean you took two years of Algebra and you should be able to help your 9^th grader with their homework, but you can’t. You may have gotten A’s but it seems you don’t remember a thing.

And that can happen in your spiritual life. Larry says, “In the same way, many of us feel like we've mastered a biblical topic or spiritual discipline when we've taken a course on it, heard a sermon, or attended a seminar. But in reality we don't know it; we're just familiar with it. On top of that, spirituality is not something we master anyway. It's a lifelong quest of getting closer—not getting ‘there.’ Perfect mastery is no more attainable in spirituality than it is in marriage, parenting, friendship, or any other relationship. They're all like peeling an onion; there's always another layer to deal with.”

He goes on, “Isn't that what the apostle Paul implies when he looks at his own spiritual journey and says that he hasn't already arrived, that he continues to press on and strain for a goal that's still out of reach? Here was a guy writing the Bible! You'd think if anyone could lay claim to having mastered spirituality it would be him. But Paul knew better. And it indicates to me that you and I probably won't reach the point any time soon of having spiritually arrived.”

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.… All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (Philippians 3:12–16)

So the key is to want to know and to keep at it. So how are you doing?

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