Flourish in Knowledge: From Knowing of God to Knowing God

    My Mom was a nurse, so we grew up being comfortable with medical terms and we were more familiar with the pharmaceutical names of over-the-counter medicines than with their popular brand names. When people would remark about my supposed medical knowledge, I would joke and say, “I only know enough to scare myself.” I had not studied medicine, nor pursued any training in the medical field; I only knew what I had heard from my Mom. I knew enough of the medical terms and conditions that I recognized them when I heard them, I sometimes knew what they meant, but that’s where my knowledge ended, I didn’t always know what could be done for those conditions, nor did I know enough to offer any real information or comfort to myself or anyone else dealing with them.

    We can be like that with God and His word. We can be familiar with terms because we’ve heard them all our lives, but not really know what they mean or how to explain them to others (consider Hebrews 5:12-13). We can be content with whatever our parents have told us, and never develop our own faith and understanding. Some have only learned enough to be scared of God but have not sought more knowledge to better understand God and His great love for His creation. Others have only learned enough to allow them to carry on in whatever path they choose with what they deem a clear conscience, “because as long as I’m a good person, God’s grace will take care of the rest.”

    At some point in our life we may have stopped gaining knowledge because we went away to school, started a career, met a man and got married; simply put, our time and focus shifted. Yes, we may hold on to the basics but end up struggling in our day to day because although we know that God exists, we are oblivious to His promises of help in times of need (Philippians 4:6-8, Hebrews 4:16, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

    Consider Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:15-21. Paul wanted the Ephesian brethren to grow in knowledge of God, so that they would know…

…the hope of His calling. God calls us through the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), and hopes we will hear (Romans 10:17), believe (Mark 16:15-16), and obey (Matthew 7:21-23, also think on Ephesians 1:4, 2:10).

…the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. We are God’s inheritance (think on Deuteronomy 32:9, Psalm 33:12). God is looking forward to receiving the saints to Himself when Jesus presents us faultless to Him; there will be exceeding joy (Jude 24-25)!  

…the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe. God can revive us (Ephesians 2:1-10), He can strengthen us (Ephesians 6:10), and just as He raised up Jesus (Ephesians 1:19-23), He can raise us up on the Last Day (1 Corinthians 6:14, Philippians 3:20-21)!  

    We all may know about the “armour of God” (Ephesians 6:10-18) – many Sunday school classes spend time on it – but without further knowledge they are simply words on the page and do us no good. We are told to put on the whole armour of God, and that can only be done when we grow in our knowledge of each piece:

We need to know the truth (John 8:31-32, 16:13-15) in order to gird our waist (protect our innermost parts) with it.

We need to know God’s righteousness (Matthew 6:33, Romans 1:16-17) to wear it as a breastplate (guarding our vital parts, e.g. our heart)

We need to know the gospel of peace to shod our feet and walk in it (Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:14-18)

We need to develop a faith (through learning and application, Hebrews 11) to shield ourselves from the devils attempts to harm us (2 Timothy 3:16-17, James 4:7, 1 Corinthians 10:17)

We need to know the value of salvation to know how important the helmet is that will guard our mind from impure pursuits.

We need to know the word of God (“the sword of the Spirit”) in order to know how to properly wield it/use it (consider Hebrews 4:12, 5:14, 1 Peter 3:15)

    Take time this week to read the whole of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians – a little bit each day, as the Lord wills. Don’t be content with what knowledge you have – great treasures of wisdom and knowledge are at your fingertips! Pray for knowledge and understanding, and then open your Bible each day and read carefully to gain it. Read and apply – a little bit each day – develop your appetite for it (Matthew 5:6, Isaiah 55:1-3, 5) – and grow toward flourishing in a knowledge that is beneficial to both you and those who see/hear you (1 Timothy 4:12-13, 15-16). Grow from simply knowing of God to truly knowing God! Keep learning, keep applying, and keep growing (Hebrews 5:12-14)!

You can do it! So can I!!