#BookLearning

Both barn doors were wide open. There was a tractor parked inside with other equipment and bales of hay. The early morning air was chilly and my son sat on his deck wrapped in a blanket with a hot cup of coffee in his hands. Some movement in the barn across the way caught his eye. Barn Swallows were playing. They were chasing each other, flying all around, making loops and just having a good time. He sat in awe watching them maneuver darting under the tractor and whisking out the backside.
Their speed was at least thirty or forty miles per hour and no mishaps. If one of these small birds had miscalculated and flew into the tractor frame, it would have done them in.

His experience as an aviator caused him to consider how those birds were able to calculate the distance and speed and make adjustments second by second with the brain the size of a peanut. It would take him a pen and paper or a calculator to be able to achieve those feats. His experience flying gave him an appreciation of birds that I didn't have and now, because he shared that morning experience with me, I look at birds a bit differently.

Book learning is a good thing and we humans spend years going to school cracking open many books. We might wonder what algebra has to do with real life when we are in high school, but it does come into good use later on. We might wonder what history has to do with real life, but we learn from history to appreciate our heritage. We can see from history how different political agendas have failed or succeeded and become aware of our own politician's stands. Book learning is not just to acquire knowledge or a graduation certificate, it is to be turned into experience.

Scripture tells us to "study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." from Second Timothy 2:15. You can be inaccurate. You can be ashamed. You can be ignorant. It is up to you. God's word is more important than algebra or calculus or learning to fly. Not only is it a history book of God's dealings with a man, a family, a nation, it speaks of redemption and how to live a life pleasing to God. Time is never wasted cracking open the Bible. We might wonder if reading of David's failures or Peter's would be of benefit. But, we can learn from their mistakes what not to do and we can become knowledgeable of how God dealt with sinners. The Bible is filled with God's thoughts and that in itself makes it worthy of reading.