Don't Be a Chalkboard!

“…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling..." — Ephesians 1:17,18

Recently, I was at a graduation ceremony. The salutatorian’s speech revolved around the importance of a good education. In the course of the speech, he quoted another author (unfortunately, I did not get the author’s name). Part of the quote read, “The things we learn, we will forget, but our education remains.” This statement totally caught me off guard. How is that possible?

However, when you look at our current society, the statement is accurate. Many college students are in school for the degree – not the learning. Many graduates value their diploma over a wealth of know-ledge. Our school systems continue to move in the direction of providing an education rather than providing an environment where students are encouraged to think on their own and to learn. We spoon feed students the “right” answers so they will think like us. We should be asking them the tough questions in the hope they will learn to be better than we are.

The same is true – maybe even more so – when it comes to Christianity. Many Christians have ceased to think. We listen to our pastor and accept everything as truth. We read a Christian book and accept it as truth. In fact, many Christians are of the opinion that they are incapable of understanding the Bible, so they don’t even try. They listen to what others have to say and accept it as truth.

Many Christians have become walking chalk-boards. Others have written the information on their minds and they display it as truth. Yes, they may display a wealth of information. So does a chalkboard, but it does not own the information. The information belongs to the person who wrote it.

Why does the truth not impact more lives? The answer is simple. You can write the greatest mathematical formula on a chalk-board. The formula may change the world forever, but it doesn’t change the chalkboard. As long as believers depend upon others to provide them with truths, believers will not grow.

Imagine if the apostle Paul came to your church. How would you accept his teachings? I would be tempted to accept every word he said as absolute, unquestionable truth. Yet, look what Acts says about the people at Berea when Paul went to speak to them. “These [the people of Berea] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

I believe we need more noble Christians in the world. Christians who are ready to receive the word of God. Christians who are willing to search out the Scriptures and seek the Truth.

Don’t be a chalkboard! Search out the Scriptures. Know that Truth is not understood by those with a high I.Q. Truth comes through revelation. As Paul prayed for the Ephesians, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, . . .” (Ephesians 1:17:18)

Today, open your bible and ask Jesus to reveal His Truth to you. 

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.