Day 030: Our Teacher

"He will guide the gentle in judgment; He will teach the gentle His ways.  All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth for those who seek His covenant and His testimonies." Psalm 24:9-10 (25:9-10)

I remember that before the first day of the new semester, I would always wonder, "how's this teacher going to be?"  If it were one from whom I had already taken a class, I would wonder, "how would s/he teach this subject?"  I always had a question, and it wouldn't be until the semester was over that I would be able to determine how the teacher did.  It's not like I was exactly like the person from RateMyProfessor or another review of the like.  Each person learns differently, so I might like a teacher another hated.

Also, when it came to evaluating a teacher, a lot depended on how much work one put into the class.  Each teacher had a different workload, but the expectation was usually the same.  The people who had the more favorable thoughts about certain professors were usually the ones who did all the work.  And, further up, the teachers for courses designated for seniors or graduate students usually incorporated a certain level of discussion - the things the teachers taught were much more subjective in nature.  Of course, if a certain professor's interpretations or ideas were not in line with a student's, that student would probably dislike the professor.

When I read these verses, I thought about how we already have a syllabus laid out for us.  We know that God is our teacher, and God is a teacher that will never be late, absent, or ignorant.  God, the fountain of all knowledge and wisdom, will teach us God's ways.  Unlike all the other teachers we've had in the past, God is one who is tried and true.  We know of the goodness of God, and we know that God means well for us in all that we have to do.  God will challenge us, indeed, but God will also be there to walk beside us, to help us fill in the blanks, to guide us through our most difficult times, so that we will come to understand so many great things.  God is inviting us into the classroom, the one where we will learn all that we need to know.