Put the Blame on You (9/16/2010)

As many of you know, I am a college student. In one of my classes this morning, our teacher handed back the tests that we took on Tuesday. The class as a whole failed miserably. However, it had to have been the teacher's fault, right?

I mean who does she think she is to expect us to give up our valuable time that we would use to watch television, hang out with friends, or do some other highly productive thing to do homework. We're college students--we can't be expected to study for something we'll never actually use in life. We've only been in the class for three weeks--that's not enough time to go out and buy the proper calculator. How dare she be upset with us for doing poorly on the test!

That's exactly how the majority of the class felt. Sin is so blinding. And the sins of laziness and pride filled the room. It seems that the first thought that comes to mind when someone is caught doing something wrong is to blame the other person. All anyone could do was blame the teacher for not giving us enough time to take the test, for not giving enough partial credit, etc.

The truth is the problems on the test were copied directly out of the book. We were given plenty of time, if we had only properly prepared. And the partial credit students were asking for was actually to accept answers that were completely and totally wrong. If we had actually put forth effort to properly prepare for the test and not just trust that because we understood it in class we could do it on the test, the class average would have been much, much higher.

One student told me that she feels that that particular teacher is by far the worst teacher there. However, after truly listening to what the teacher had to say, I now believe that she may actually be the best teacher there. Her attitude today made it clear that she holds to her values, and stands by her word. She loves what she does and feels that people should actually have to work for success--not just have it handed to them.

After class, when I got in my car, I began to pray and seek out how God felt about the situation. I began to come to the realization that what I experienced in class today applies to much more than that particular class or even school in general--it applies to everything we do.

I then began to evaluate my own life and see how I could improve how I live from day to day. We waste so much time doing absolutely meaningless things. We sleep later than we need to instead of spending time in God's Word. We watch television instead of properly preparing for the next day of class. Adrian Rogers said that God has given us exactly the right amount of time we need in each day to do everything that we need to do. So, if we run out of time to do something, that can only mean that we didn't use our time wisely.

Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." I realize that I didn't put forth effort in that class. I didn't study properly, and that's why my grade on the test was less than satisfactory. We need to stop blaming others and start blaming the one that really deserves it--ourselves.