Daily Thought for Friday, September 2nd

September 2, 2011

The Back To School Series

The Spiritual Implications of Education

Part Five – Arithmetic

“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser:

 teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”

Proverbs 9:9

Today’s Thought:

“The teacher’s task is not to implant facts but to place the subject to be learned in front of the learner and, through sympathy, emotion, imagination and patience, to awaken in the leaner the restless drive for answers and insights which enlarge the personal life and give it meaning.”  – Nathan M. Pusey

Today’s Quotes:

“Not the school, nor the teachers, but the student is the preponderant factor in education.” – James Weldon Johnson

 

“If a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called way (ever) so little, he must begin again.” – Francis Bacon

Today’s Question

Have you ever taken the time to consider this: “Via ovicipitum dura est – The way of the egghead is hard?”  –   Adlai E, Stevenson

Today’s Bible Verses:                Psalms 139:17 & 2 Peter 1:2-8

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today’s Spiritual Thought:

“From the intrinsic evidence of his creation, the Great Architect of the Universe now begins to appear as a pure mathematician.” –  Sir James Hopwood Jeans

Did you ever question, when you were going to school and having to study, algebra, geometry or calculus: how or when will I ever need this when I grow up?  If you did you are not alone.  Now, I know there are some who love math dearly and value the discipline, structure and logical and methodical fundamentals of all that makes math what it is.

But when you boil it down to basics, math consists of the manipulation of numbers by adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing to reach an answer to whatever problem you are trying to solve.

So how then, does math or arithmetic apply to us as Christians?

Well first numbers play an important role in scriptures.  For example three (3) represents the Trinity: seven (7) is the number for completion:  eight (8) represents new beginnings: twelve (12) stands for government:  forty (40) signifies trials and testing; while six (6) is used to signify sinfulness and (666) is the number for the beast in Revelation. 

We are told to forgive seventy times seven those who would wrong us. “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” – The Bible (Matthew 18:21-22)    This requires multiplication.

 

We are instructed to bring our tithe into the storehouse.  “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”  - The Bible (Malachi 3:10)  This again requires us to use multiplication using percentages.

And I could go on.

We are to make disciples of all men, adding to the church and the body of Christ.

We are to divide and subtract from among us those that would contaminate the truth and those who refuse repentance.

And we must keep in mind that it took one (1) cross, plus (+) three (3) nails for Jesus to be hung so that His blood would be shed to equal the sum of (4) forgiveness from our sins.

And we must always remember that two (2) wrongs are never greater than or equal to one (1) right.

And even if you take away all the numeric equations and focused only on the structure, discipline and truth that are a part of the science of mathematics or arithmetic, you would have good principles upon which to structure your life as a Christian.

“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty.” – Bertrand Russell

To sum it up and reach the product of the equation we are trying to solve (or to answer the question that is before us) mathematical understanding is essential to just about every aspect of our lives, even when it comes to spiritual matters.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God,

a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the word of truth.” –

2 Timothy 2:15

Today’s Prayer:

Father at the end of it all may the addends, subtrahends, multipliers and divisors, in my life, equal a life lived for you that totals a life that is pleasing in your sight.