You don’t GO to your destiny as though it is waiting for you somewhere, You GROW to your destiny by learning day by day. When we learn to be growth minded rather than destination minded we will experience so much more out of life. God is not trying to get you somewhere, He is turning you into someone. You will not get to where you need to go until you become who you need to be.

Think about this–Jesus was a Rabbi. Another name for Rabbi is teacher. God’s heart is one of a teacher. He desires to train us so we can become who He has called us to be. A teacher doesn’t just give you the answers. A teacher help you search within and come up with the answer. Many people are asking God for an answer, but He is wanting to grow you and teach you how to come up with the answer. Simply giving someone an answer does nothing to help develop them to maturity. Jesus’ heart is to always teach. A teacher asks more questions than they answer. Think about this…Jesus used questions all the time. When asked who He was He once responded, “Who do you say that I am?” When people knew He could heal them, Jesus would ask, “Do you want to be healed?” He helped people search within. He is the master teacher always helping us grow into the fulness of our destiny.

The question is: are you a good student? Or let me put it this way…are you a good disciple? A disciple is a student of a Rabbi. As followers of Christ, we are disciples, or students of Him. The Bible encourages us to be great students…

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) 

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

The word STUDY in the Greek is Spoudazo, which means, to hasten, make haste, to exert one’s self, endeavor, give diligence. Study is about giving your all to grow and learn. So, again, are you a good student that is growing in Christ?

Here are some characteristics of a good student…

1. They Are Intentional

Growth is not automatic. You do not accidentally grow. Nobody has ever said, “HOW DID I GET AN A+?” You do not accidentally get a perfect grade point average in school. It takes intentional effort to discipline yourself to study. Be intentional about the things you want to grow in. You won’t learn what you need to know until you get in a position to know what you need to learn. Get a plan to grow and work the plan everyday.

2. They Are Committed

Good students stay in GROWTH MODE…always. Not long ago our two daughters were staying with their grandparents over the weekend. When their papa was doing a crossword puzzle he was teaching them the definitions of some of the words. The girls emphatically responded, “Papa, it’s the weekend…we don’t learn on the weekend!” Many times we act like this. We are not in a mood to learn, or the situation is hard and we just want to get out of it, rather than learn from it. Don’t pray to GET OUT of a situation, because you won’t GET OUT of a situation until you GET OUT of the situation what it is you needed to GET OUT of the situation. Everything is a LESSON in the classroom of life. Vernon Howard said, “Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will.”

3. They Are Active

A good student doesn’t just learn…they APPLY what they learn. Learning and doing are two separate things.

 James 1:22-25 (NIV) 

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. 

Motivational speaker Jim Rohn said, “Don’t let your learning lead to knowledge. Let your learning lead to action.” The more you apply what you’ve learned, the more you’ll experience God’s purposes in your life. Take what you are learning and apply it to every area of your life. If we are not willing to apply what we’ve learned we will never gain wisdom. Wisdom does not come through experience, it comes from applying what you’ve learned through your experience.