Done With School!

How do you know when you are done with school? You may think you have had enough school already and you want to quit. Or maybe you think that when you finish high school, you will be done with school. Perhaps you plan to go to college, and when you graduate you will be done with school. Maybe you even think you might like to get a master's degree or a doctorate. Surely then you will be done with school.
We can know when we are done with school when we have become like our teachers. In Luke 6:40 Jesus said, "The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master." You may think initially that this verse doesn't say anything about school, but the word "disciple" really means "student" or "learner" and the old English word "master" means "teacher." So what this verse is saying is that the student is not above his teacher; on the contrary, every student when he is "perfect" (or fully trained) will become like his teacher.
In other words, you are ready to be done being trained when you can do the right thing on your own. If your teachers are constantly having to correct you and teach you the right thing to do, then you aren't ready to be out from under their instruction. If your parents can't trust you to do the right thing on your own, you still need their training. If you haven't learned the lessons you've been taught in school, at home, or at church, then you aren't quite ready to be done yet!
At the same time, we need to realize that who we learn from is important. We will become like our teachers. That's why our schooling and formal education is an important choice in our lives. As you get older and think about choosing a college, look at the teachers and think about this: Is this how I want to be in ten or twenty years? Is this how I want to think? Are they committed to the same values that I am? The teachers that we learn from, that we respect, that we listen to, will influence us. We will become like them.