As I was watching the TV the other day, I was a bit shocked to hear about all the ‘Back to School sales’ which the stores were now having.

I seem to remember the first day of school was always the day after Labor Day. Obviously, being much older now and it’s a long time since I went to school, things have obviously changed.

As one gets older, it seems that life is passing you by in such a fast pace. It seems like it was only yesterday that I was a young man, having fun and experiencing life in a new way.

Like most older people, I tend to look back at pictures of when our city was much smaller and much simpler, and I find myself wishing our city would go back to being the city it was back then and not the city it has now become.

It’s the same with life. In the years which have passed since my high school days, I have sadly attended many funerals of my old high school classmates. I have watched people I love get bad diseases and become a shell of what they once were.

I now have aches and pains in my body I never had before and when I look in the mirror, I don’t see the person I once was when I was young. As I heard it said: “Age always wins” I came across this quote: “Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional” (emphasis added) Boy how true that quote is.

By the grace of God, we all grow old but it’s up to us if we grow up as we grow old. I’ve done some very childish, dumb and bad things in life as I grew, and I often wonder how did I ever get through all my mistakes in life. It’s only by the grace of the Lord that I am even alive today.

Though some of my teachers may not agree when I say, I loved my days in school. They were some of the most fun times in my life. I should have attended class more often, but I still enjoyed school.

We live across the street from an elementary school so in a few days lots of young boys and girls will begin going back to school to learn more and have fun. Here’s the crazy thing, though we may now be long gone from our school days, we never stop learning as adults. As believers we continue to stay enrolled in the Lord’s school till we close our eyes and open them again in heaven.

David writes in Psalm 86:11 “Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name” Psalm 119:66 “Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in Your decrees”  Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good spirit lead me on level ground” Are we getting the point?

No matter how many, if any, degrees we may have earned, what position we have attained in life, or whatever you may want to say, as believers we are never out of school with the Lord.

Are you ready my friend; the school bell is about to ring. Get your pencils sharpened, your binder of paper ready and a heart willing to learn. The Teacher, our Lord Jesus, is about to start class!!!