Greek Geek

I had my third Greek class last night. We're to the point now where learning this next batch of vocabulary words will put me at over 51% of the New Testament. In other words, I should recognize about half of the words in the Greek New Testament after I learn about 20 more words. That's pretty exciting.

This class has certainly become a great learning experience, and I mean that beyond just learning the basics of basic Greek. I'm learning what it's like to be a student pursuing excellence. I don't think I ever really pursued excellence as an undergrad. I wanted to do well, but that was because I wanted to get a degree so I could get a job. I had to do well enough to keep my scholarship, which meant maintaining at least a 3.2 GPA. I graduated with a 3.37 in Chem E, which certainly wasn't bad, but I sure hope to do a lot better as a grad student.

I'm learning that perfection isn't very realistic. However, it is a good goal. I only missed one thing on my quiz last night and that encourages me. I went from being in a total fog to understanding the material all in the course of a week. These things encourage me. But I also see the need to maintain my dilligence lest I fall hard.

It seems that there is a great parallel here between this and my life as a Christian. I know that holiness is never quite attainable, but I must keep up the pursuit. We're using a great book called The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges that also covers this. It really pins down what I try to express to students at Setting Captives Free. We all have our daily stumbles, but we grow in maturity as we no longer live with besetting sin. If anyone reading this wants a free copy of this book I can hook you up. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Now on a more practical, day-to-day living note, I need to get on top of my Systematic Theology stuff for class this Sunday. And I need to get ready for Lily's party on Saturday too. Much to do, and work just keeps getting in the way.