Deuteronomy 17:19 (ESV, excerpt)
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life.
I consider myself pretty technologically savvy. Over the years, I have been able to navigate computers fairly well and have even done some advanced programming. Recently, there have been a couple of times when my kids were doing something on a computer and I stepped in to show them a quicker, more efficient way. Then they showed me an even more efficient way to do it. I started out giving the lesson and ended up receiving one.
Experience is valuable, but it does not mean we have nothing left to learn. Sometimes the person who can teach us is the very person we thought needed our help. We have to be willing to listen long enough to discover that. The same humility matters in our relationship with God, no matter how many years we have followed Him.
Deuteronomy 17 speaks to that danger in its instructions for a future king. A person with authority over an entire nation would have many demands on his attention. We might expect the central instruction to concern military strength, political skill, or the expansion of his influence. Instead, God makes room for something very personal and ongoing. The king is to have a copy of God's law and read it throughout his life. His position does not lessen his need to listen to God.
The purpose reaches beyond gaining information. This steady exposure to God's instruction is meant to cultivate reverence, obedience, and humility. The king is not to consider himself above the people he governs. He may have a different responsibility, but he remains accountable to the same God. Authority does not make him an exception to the commands he expects others to follow. The more influence he carries, the more seriously he needs to receive the Word that corrects and directs him.
Most of us will never govern a nation, but we all have areas where we become comfortable with our own judgment. We may have worked in the same field for years or managed a particular responsibility successfully. Others may regularly ask for our advice. Those experiences can be useful, but they do not make us incapable of error. A person who has been right many times can still be wrong today. Maturity includes the willingness to consider that possibility without becoming defensive.
One warning sign is the way we respond when someone questions us. Do we listen long enough to understand the concern, or do we immediately begin explaining why it cannot apply? Do we ask for an example, or do we attack the person's motives? Correction may be imperfectly delivered and still contain something true. We should evaluate it carefully, but we should not require someone to speak flawlessly before we are willing to examine ourselves. That standard would allow us to avoid almost every difficult conversation.
Reading Scripture regularly helps confront this tendency because it keeps placing us before an authority greater than our own. We encounter commands we did not create and truths we cannot edit simply because they make us uncomfortable. The passage may address our temper, our use of money, or our willingness to forgive. We have a choice about how we will respond. We can read mainly to find something for another person, or we can allow God to address the person doing the reading.
That second approach requires us to slow down. Finishing a chapter is good, but finishing without considering its meaning can leave us largely unchanged. Take time to notice what the passage reveals about God and what it exposes in your own life. Read difficult sections carefully and seek help when you need it. Consistency matters more than trying to impress anyone with how much you cover. The purpose is to grow in faithful understanding and obedience over a lifetime.
God's instructions for the king also place limits on the accumulation of power, wealth, and relationships that could turn his heart away. Those warnings recognize that success can create spiritual danger. When life is going well, we may become less attentive to the habits that kept us grounded. We feel capable, so prayer becomes less urgent. We receive praise, so correction becomes less welcome. Good circumstances should lead us to gratitude and dependence, but they can instead make us forget how much we still need God.
There is something healthy about deliberately remaining a learner in ordinary life. Ask someone to show you a better way to do a task. Listen to a perspective you have not considered. Admit when you do not understand. Those habits do not replace spiritual obedience, but they can reveal how tightly we are holding our pride. We do not lose dignity by acknowledging a limitation. Often, honest humility makes it easier for the people around us to ask questions and admit their own mistakes.
If you have spent many years following Jesus, receive that history with gratitude and remain open to what He is teaching you now. Familiar passages may address a current situation in a way you have overlooked. If you are newer to faith, do not be embarrassed by the amount you have yet to learn. Everyone begins with questions, and nobody reaches a point where dependence on God becomes unnecessary. Faithfulness grows as we keep returning, listening, and putting what we understand into practice.
Before the day is over, identify one place where you need to become more teachable. It may concern a recurring argument, a habit you keep defending, or a responsibility you have stopped examining. Bring it before God without preparing your defense first. Ask Him to use Scripture and wise counsel to show you the next step. You do not have to protect an image of knowing everything. You can trust the One who knows you fully to continue shaping your life with patience and truth.
Prayer
Father, keep me teachable. Thank You for the things You have helped me learn, and forgive me for the times I have treated experience as a reason to stop listening. Give me a steady desire for Your Word and a humble response to correction. Help me use whatever influence I have responsibly. Continue changing the attitudes and habits that do not reflect Jesus. In His name, amen.