Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. – Exodus 29:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 17, 2012): Exodus 29

I attended a graduation ceremony a couple of days ago for my son, Craig, who has just graduated with his Bachelor of Arts Degree from a local University. During the ceremony I was impressed with what the president of the University had to say about the learning process. He reminded those that were about to Graduate with various degrees that their learning process was not over – it had just begun. Some of the graduates, my son included, were going on to other educational institutions and further degrees. Others would now enter the job market and, hopefully, get to put their degrees to work. Still others would take some time off and go travel the world. But whatever the graduate’s plans were, they would keep learning – because learning is integral to the living of this life.

I was hit with the truth of the message. It is a message that has often come from of my lips and it was good once again to hear the message coming from other leaders. Life is all about learning. No matter what the level of education is that you aspire to, learning continues long after the last exam of the last class. We have to continue to stretch ourselves – we have to continue to learn.

But, in some ways, it is against our expectations. Repeatedly I hear employers who want to hire people who are educated and experienced because they will ‘know what to do.’ We want people in the positions around us to be experts – not students. But that is not reality. In fact, it might be the biggest mistake we could make.

I love this passage because it is a reminder that the priests were human, they were sinful, and I believe that they were still learning. They did not arrive on the scene perfect, but imperfect. They did not arrive clean, but in need of washing. It would become a practice that they would repeat throughout their ministries, each time recognizing their imperfections and their need to learn more about God.

We do not do anyone any favors when we pretend that we know everything. People need to know that we are imperfect, still learning and still in need of washing. No matter how much we know, this is the reality of life. And there is nothing wrong with that, in fact, it is the way it is supposed to be.

  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 30