Have you ever talked to someone who sounded like they knew what they were talking about, but the more you listened, the more you realized that they really didn't know the depth of the subject?
Well, this happens all the time, and usually it doesn't cause much of a problem. However, when we're dealing with the things of God, we must know what we are talking about. Guessing and talking a big talk may impress some people, but it doesn't impress God and can actually be
deadly. He requires us to be knowledgeable and act on that knowledge.
Hosea
4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me." The knowledge it's talking about here is knowledge of the Word of God. We must know God's Word, or according to the Bible, we leave ourselves open for destruction. When we stand before God, we can't say, "I didn't know." That will not be acceptable to Him.
There are many good Christians who think they know God's Word. And because they think they know God's Word, they quit searching for deeper truths. After
all, if you think you have something, you don't look for it. Well, sad to say, that is the case with many today. Some have even attended Sunday School as a child and grown into adulthood and still only know the
outward appearance of the Word. A box full of Sunday School pins is good, but the Sunday School pins won't set you free. It is only the Word that will do that.
Now don't take me wrong. Any study of the Word, no matter how shallow or superficial, is better than no study. All of the Word is alive. But what I am saying is that there is more to God's Word than just stories. And according to Hosea 4:6, it is possible to perish because of a lack of
knowledge.
Jesus said in John 8:31-32, "If you abide in My Word, you are
My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Jesus didn't say that singing in the choir would set you free. He didn't say that attending church every time the doors were open would set you free. Jesus said that through the Word we would know the truth and the truth of the Word would set us free.
You may say, "Okay, I know that the truth will set me free, but how do I actually go about getting the truth in me so that I can be set free? What is it that I have to do?"
In John 16:13, Jesus said, "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."
Here, Jesus gives us a key to the understanding of truth. The Spirit of truth is the Holy Spirit. God sent the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, here to comfort and help all believers. But we cannot access Him in the natural. We must
seek Him in the spirit.
First Corinthians 2:9-10 says, "Eye has not
seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God."
For a Christian to know and understand the truths of God basically requires these three steps.
1) Read the Word of God regularly.
2) Meditate and soak up what you read.
3) Listen as the Holy Spirit reveals the truth in your heart.
____________________________________________
