Read a little. Think a lot. Apply the lesson. Share with others. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat.
How is it possible for a little child to learn what is, to them, a foreign language in a few short years without any formal training? In fact, if children grow up in a multilingual home, they can master several languages all at once! The secret is repetition. The child learns a word by hearing adults or siblings repeat that word in conversation. Once children utter the word for the first time, they find delight in discovery and will repeat it over and over. Each time there is increasing confidence and clarity. Soon the word is combined with other words to build phrases, then sentences. And so it goes. Like any effective teacher, the Lord uses repetition in the Bible to help us learn His ways, “precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little” (Isa 28:10). But the process should not be tedious, because the Lord continues to add interesting details along the way to keep us engaged. While Exodus 36–39 might appear to be almost word-for-word repetition, there are important additions. Here’s a great one. The laver, the special water basin for the priests’ cleansing, is described in chapter 30, but chapter 38:8 tells us something more. Here we see it was made “from the bronze mirrors of the serving women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle” (38:8). Yes, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised” (Prov 31:30). Mirrors can show what needs washing, but the laver, like God’s Word, not only reveals the need but also provides the solution. James, perhaps alluding to the laver, says: “He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (Jas 1:25). Let’s reflect on that!