Still growing?

In his excellent, little book Leaders Who Last, Dave Kraft writes,

"Howard Hendricks shares the story of a professor he had in seminary who was in his study early in the mornings and late in the evenings.  Howard walked by his home and saw him still at work in his study.  One day he asked the old professor what motivated him to keep studying, assuming that by now he would have encountered almost everything and would be coasting into retirement.  The wise, old professor answered, "I would rather have my students drink from a flowing stream than a stagnant pool."  (p. 112)

I've witnessed over the years how easy it is for someone to become a Christian, pour himself or herself into learning as much as they can for a year or two and then slide into a kind of spiritual auto-pilot, rarely ever again digging deeply in the Bible and theology for new treasures or theological refinement.  That's tragic - especially for those who look to them as model Christians, but find only the stagnant water of what they learned early on in the journey.

In light of that, consider the following questions:

1. When is the last time you studied a text or book of the Bible in-depth, really exerted yourself and became really excited by what you were learning?

2. When is the last time you read a Christian book that really stretched you both in terms of the new concepts it was presenting and the challenging application it was commending?

3. When is the last time you were so excited about some new insight from the Bible or theology that you couldn't keep it to yourself - you had to share it with somebody?

All of us were made and born-again by God to be conduits of His truth to others.  Those others might be your spouse, your kids, a small group, co-workers, neighbors, relatives, readers of your blog/FB posts, etc. None of us were made only to take in truth without it flowing back out to others.  So, answer honestly, are you working hard to remain a flowing stream, or have you become a stagnant pool?  It's never too late to become a life-long learner.