Dropping Out of THIS School is Wise

There is a school that is arguably THE most successful school in the world.

It boasts the highest enrollment and graduation rates, yet it also boasts the highest number of repeat students. Despite the success of this world-renowned school, entrance into it is not at all competitive. There are no application deadlines and the school features rolling admission. 

In addition, every course offered is considered an elective--you only take what you sign up for.  A steady stream of students are constantly transferring into to the school, and very few transfer out of it. This school is incredibly popular--so popular that once some students enroll there, they actually refuse to leave, earning the school the highest retention rates.   

By now some of you are eager to find out exactly which school I'm referring to. Actually, it's one that we are all too familiar with--The School of Hard Knocks.

Almost all of us, at one time or another, have found ourselves strolling the halls of this infamous school. Perhaps it was when our friends and family tried to warn us about a relationship we were so sure was "sent from above" yet ended up dragging us through that place "down below."

Perhaps while we were there, we majored in jumping from the arms of one person to the next, never stopping long enough to allow that lonely void inside to be filled by the only one who can fill it to overflowing--Jesus.

Maybe we unwittingly signed ourselves up for an Advanced Placement course in "Root of Bitterness" and didn't realize that our bodies would become the laboratory where that root would be incubated, filling our hearts and minds with enough bitterness to carry us all through adulthood.

Perhaps we hastily signed up for the class, "Patience? Who's Got Time for That?!" and have a trail of bad decisions, broken promises and unfinished business to show for it.

Or, maybe we enrolled in the school's signature class (I used to sit in the front of this one!), "One Foot in the Word, One Foot in the World," even though, as the gospel group Forever Jones sings, God  "... wants it all today,"  plus we know that "a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8).

Some of us are still enrolled in the School of Hard Knocks because we have yet to grasp the depth of the love God has for us and unyielding truth found in God's Word.  We keep thinking there is another and better way to live this earthly life other than the plan God has for us.  If we are honest about it, some of us even believe, as actor Charlie Sheen does, that we are different, that we have "tiger blood," or that we can journey deep into the wild side and leave enough bread crumbs to find our way back out before it's too late. 

We forget, however, that "as a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly" (Proverbs 26:11). We can leave all the bread crumb trails and clues we want, but we often don't ever make our way out of the woods because as soon as we are out of danger, we yield to temptation and go right back in (snacking on those bread crumbs along the way). 

Proverbs 14:16 explains that "A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident." With that in mind, I say we protest against the School of Hard Knocks and lead a massive walkout!  Let's "depart from evil" by getting rid of our allegiance to this madhouse and cancelling our enrollment.  Let's not be foolishly confident that this is where we are destined to learn life's lessons.

Despite our mistakes of the past, we don't have to continue learning everything the hard way, for Psalms 111:10 tells us, "Reverence for the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. The rewards of wisdom come to all who obey Him. Praise His name forever!" In the words of the old hymn, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way...."

Today, some of the lessons learned through the School of Hard Knocks are downright deadly.  I know.  I've attended or presided at the funerals of far too many graduates from this school.  Those of you who've been in this school so long that you are finally ready to graduate, I urge you to throw away that cap and gown and let God replace it with a robe and crown, because despite how much time and energy you've already invested in it, dropping out of THIS school is wise.