It was renowned author and management expert Peter Drucker who once said, “An educated person is someone who has learned how to learn and never stops learning.”
I have adapted that quote slightly, and I often say to people, “A disciple is someone who has learned how to learn and never stops learning.” But this isn’t just feel-good jargon—it’s thoroughly biblical. Take a look at 2 Peter 1:3-4…
“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
Now, let’s follow that logic in reverse. How do we participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires? The answer is through the very great and precious promises God has given us. And we know those promises come through knowledge. In other words, as Christians, we have to learn how to learn and never stop learning!
I remember when I was a young boy, I told my mother I wasn’t a Christian. Now, that was quite a shock to her system. So she immediately rushed to my side with a large Bible, opened it to Revelation 3:20 and read, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (KJV).
Fortunately, my mum not only knew her Bible and studied her Bible, but she also knew how to interpret the Bible into the thought patterns of her child.
So she told me, “Stuart, this is saying that a Christian is somebody who has a relationship with Jesus. And the best way of describing that is by saying Jesus comes to live in their hearts. He never bangs down the door. He just knocks on the door and asks to be invited.”
The fact that my mum had that knowledge made all the difference for me. It changed how I thought about Jesus—I asked Him into my heart that day!—and it gave me a desire to begin reading the Word of God on my own.
So I started reading it, and the Bible began teaching me what I needed to know, rebuking me when I was wrong, and training me in righteousness. Even to this day, so many years later, I am constantly taught, rebuked and trained by God’s Word.
The key to being a lifelong learner of God’s Word is taking a high view of Scripture, just like my mum did. But you can’t say you have a high view of Scripture and then ignore it. You will read it, mark it, inwardly digest it and put it into practice. Disciples have a living, lifelong relationship with their Bibles!
Never stop learning. Nourish your relationship with God every day. Keep on growing in His grace—and your lifelong absorption of His truth will make you an even greater participant in His divine nature.