Dale Has a Duck's Brain
Thursday, January 9, 2025
“A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” – C.H. Spurgeon
“Dale,” my father used to tell me when I was growing up, “for a straight A student, you don’t have the brains God gave a duck.” I can laugh about it now, but I’m not so sure I found my dad’s criticism very funny back then.
What my dad was trying to say was that I lacked common sense, the kind that comes with age and experience. I had – or was developing – the “book knowledge” to get good grades in school, but “life in the fast lane” requires much more than that.
Over the past 55 years, I have acquired more “real world” experience as well as a fair share of wisdom. If my dad could see me now, I think he would probably agree.
However, there is something more important than good grades and common sense… and Teddy Roosevelt hit the nail on the head in today’s quote. We can cram our minds full of worldly knowledge and even earn a few advanced degrees, but a thorough understanding and application of God’s Word is far more valuable.
By studying the Bible, we get to know its author (the Holy Spirit) and its main character (Jesus Christ). And once we do, our life takes a 180-degree turn. Instead of focusing on self, Jesus becomes our #1 priority. We want to know Him more deeply, love Him more dearly, follow Him more closely, and serve Him more effectively.
Here is how Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers”, describes the changes that accompany that new birth…
“From the moment of the new and heavenly birth the man begins to live to Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price, for whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He has so completely won our heart that it beats alone for Him; to His glory we would live, and in defense of His Gospel we would die. He is the pattern of our life, and the model after which we would sculpture our character.”
“But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’” John 6:68 (NKJV)
“I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10-11 (BSB)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
