Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly, teaching and admonishing one another...

  - Colossians 3.16

Tirelessly he feeds the faithful with heavenly feasts,/ lest those who are seen with Christ should fail upon the way;/ he gives them the words of the Gospel like loaves,/ multiplied in his hands like manna.

  - Sechnall, Audite Omnes Amantes (Irish, 5th century)

Reading Patrick's Confession we can't help but get the idea that here was a man saturated in the Word of God. Quotations, references, and allusions to Scripture emerge in his account like the dust that follows Pig Pen everywhere he goes.

Patrick consumed the Word of God; he fed on it richly. And just as richly, he taught it to others, as Sechnall frequently mentions in his poem celebrating the saint.

In this he set an example for all believers. God calls us to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. We must learn to feed on the Word of God, and to feed so constantly upon it that it becomes more important than our "portion of food" (Job 23.12), and we rejoice in every meal and morsel of God's Word (Jer. 15.16).

But feeding on the Word is not an end in itself. Such wholesome, faithful feeding will bring forth the fruit of righteousness and good works (Ps. 1; 2 Tim. 3.15-17), among these the work of teaching one another.

Our view of teaching and learning is shaped by our cultural experience (alas). For us, teaching is done by "certified" instructors in classrooms, where we all take our seats and listen politely for, oh, an hour or so.

But this is not the Biblical view of teaching. Or not all of it, at least.

According to Scripture, every disciple of Jesus - everyone engaged in learning Him (Eph. 4.17-24) - is also called to teach. Jesus made this clear, as did all the apostles. What God serves us in His Word we are to share with the people around us, day by day, not in formal classrooms but in everyday conversation, freely and joyfully relating the truth of God to one another.

When the Word of Christ begins to dwell in us as richly as it did in Patrick, we, too, will have plenty of food to serve the people around us - morsels of insight, instruction, exhortation, and witness that we, having savored, will eagerly share with others for their spiritual nutrition and growth.

God has called you to learn Jesus. Are you learning Him?

He also calls each of us to teach.

Whom will you teach from the savory and nutritious Word of Christ today?

T. M. Moore, Principal

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