As I have been growing in my Spanish knowlege and learning how to communicate more, I have been thinking about how it can be so similar to my daily walk with Jesus. The final goal in learning a new language is to be fluent and have the ability to think in the language without translating in your head. The same is with our walk and relationship with Jesus. We desire to naturally live out of obedience and walk in the identity that He has given us without having to remind ourselves or falling back into how we are used to thinking. Daily we need God to remind us of things or re-read Scripture to help us battle what is in front of us and continuously ask Him to remind us of truth throughout our day or situtation. The same is when I ask a local to speak slower (mas despacio, por favor) in order to comprehend more of what they are saying. As a local is patient and repeats or speaks slower, so is God with us as we continue to repeat sin and patterns over and over. You can read and study for years and have the book knowlege but you will never learn as quickly and fluidly as in immersion. Not only do you learn the language in immersion but the culture as well and how the locals live, speak and interact. Created in the image of God, we are from Him and our identity lies in Him. In the way He lived and calls us to live- the culture of our KING, that is our goal. The more immersed in His word and in communion with Him through prayer, the more we come to live in the identity and embrace His image in our life.
