Curious, Humble, Eager, and Trusting

This is a vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house

will be the highest of all—

the most important place on earth.

It will be raised above the other hills,

and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.

People from many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

to the house of Jacob’s God.

There he will teach us his ways,

and we will walk in his paths.”

For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion;

his word will go out from Jerusalem.

The LORD will mediate between nations

and will settle international disputes.

They will hammer their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will no longer fight against nation,

nor train for war anymore.

Come, descendants of Jacob,

let us walk in the light of the LORD! (Isaiah 2:1–5 NLT)

“Can you teach me?”

This is such an innocent phrase, especially coming from the mouth of a child, but it carries so much weight beyond its four words. It is a phrase full of curiosity, humility, eagerness, and trust. When a child says this to you, there are only two proper responses: “I would love to,” or “I’m not sure how myself; why don’t we learn together?”

Even though these exact words aren’t present in today’s passage from Isaiah 2, that same spirit is present. It is an attitude that is part of becoming like children, as Jesus calls us to. Isaiah tells of people from many nations eager and curious to seek out the mountain of the Lord’s house so they might humbly and trustingly learn his ways – how to “walk in the light of the LORD.”

As adults, it can be all too easy to remain stuck in our ways, whether it is due to habits, both bad and good, or because we’ve found a way to accomplish a task that best suits our skills, or for a hundred other reasons. As helpful as it is to create these mental shortcuts to help us move through life more efficiently or effectively, they can also blind us to differing possibilities or new understandings. They can prevent us from being open enough to learn God’s ways, or even the ways of other members of God’s family.

What would it look like if we as a people of God were more curious, humble, eager to learn, and trusting of our Heavenly Father and his children? Are we able to say to the Holy Spirit, or even to our brothers or sisters in Christ, “Can you teach me?”