Mastering What?

Verses:

Proverbs 18:15: “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”

Ephesians 5:15-16: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Psalm 19:12: So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Thoughts:

It is the job of a master to share his love of the subject he teaches. A master of his subject sees it with an eye informed by knowledge. He can more deeply see the beauty of it because of his depth of knowledge. Masters can share that knowledge with those around them.

I would define a master as someone who has spent countless hours on his craft, and has refined and perfected his skill.

God has created this amazing world, and there truly is so much to love. I would very much love to spend hours reading and learning more about the world around me. But, I am a finite creature with a finite amount of time here on earth, therefore I must choose wisely how I spend my time.

The blessing of learning under a master is that he is able to give information and share his love for that thing to the student from his hours of experience. He is able to break things down in simple ways and explain it to the student. The student still has to take many hours to learn the thing, but he has a much farther head start than if he tried to learn it all by himself.

Now, I’d like to think about this from a different point of view. If we take the adage that you master something when you’ve done 10,000 hours of it, what are you a master of? I’m definitely a master at sleep. A master’s master. In fact, I think we all are by age 3.

But what other things have I spent my hours on? If I look objectively at my time, what skills have I honed?

It could be cooking, out of necessity. It could be driving. It could be reading, or working out, or socializing. 

But what things have you spent time on that you wouldn’t want to call yourself a master of? I think many in our time are masters of social media, or of just being on their phones. Many are masters at being angry, or slandering. Others are masters at complaining or being morose. Some are masters at laughing and doing favors.

So, what do you spend time on? Be brutally honest. What skills are you honing? Do they serve the kingdom of God?

#32

20 Feb 2026