Dear friend,
What is your goal for being at the seminary? To get a degree? If that's your goal, you'll accomplish that goal, and that piece of paper will be just a piece of paper. You say, "I'm here to study the Bible. I want to know the Scriptures." All well and good. But I want to put before you a higher goal than just getting a degree or learning the Bible. I want you to know God. God gave us a revelation of himself so that those who receive him will enjoy him. That kind of a relationship has to be pursued. The apostle Paul had a glorious, fulfilling ministry for 30 years. He was obedient to God's call to minister to the Gentiles. Near the end of his ministry Paul could tell the Colossians that the whole world had heard the gospel. He was fully satisfied in the ministry God had given him. But as he tells us in Phil. 3:10, it's not success or ministry that satisfied his deep hunger. The passion of his heart was that he might know him.
A new semester will begin shortly. May I challenge you to set as your goal in 2024 not just to know Greek, but to know God? Not just to know Jesus, but to know him intimately? Not just to know about the Holy Spirit, but to experience deep, intimate, personal fellowship with him? And when the semester comes to an end, it would be good to ask yourself, "Do I know him better than when I began?"
Much love in the Lamb,
Dave Black