PSALM 25:4-5

Show me your ways, Lord,

    teach me your paths.

Guide me in your truth and teach me,

    for you are God my Saviour,

    and my hope is in you all day long.

TO PONDER:

One of the things we would do when I worked at the hire firm, was show people how to use the equipment they hired before they left the shop. Chainsaw, brushcutter, concrete saw, generator, lawnmower. Whatever it was, we would start it up, and then give them instructions on how to use it. It wasn't uncommon for people to say, "Don't worry about showing me, I know how to use it.' I remember one day, a guy came in for a chainsaw to cut up firewood and he took a second chain with him. I showed him what to do, despite his protestations that he had been using chainsaws his whole life. A few hours later, he came in complaining that the second chain we had given him was blunt. He was angry. He was verbally abusive and so I looked at the machine he held in his hand. The second chain had been put on the wrong way! Of course it wouldn't cut.

I wonder...how often are we like that when it comes to God. God longs to teach us his ways, for they are not natural to us. God wants to show us his ways, but we think, 'I've been a Christian my whole life, I know how to do this thing!' We might not use the words, but our actions show that. Maybe we thought we learnt everything we needed to know in Confirmation. We don't keep growing in the Word. We don't seek the counsel of the Word. We are not prepared to learn new things or be challenged in how we do something that we do.

Do you have a teachable spirit? The Psalmist David, recognises that he needs help in walking God's way. With a teachable spirit, filled with humility, he asks God to show him, teach him, guide him. He's eager to learn from God. He wants to be shown by God. He desires to be guided by God. What about you? What would happen if you began every day, praying these verses when you arose? Try it.

PRAYER:

Give me a teachable spirit to learn your ways. Show me your ways, O Lord, that I might walk in your truth, to the glory of your name. Amen.