She said she knew the Bible and everyone she knew liked the book. If you know me, you know I’m not a fan of hype Christianity—I’m not one to just go along with the crowd.
I believe believers are called to be different from the world. We aren’t defined by what we know or say, but what we do with it. Hello, this is why Jesus became so frustrated with the religious elite (Matthew 23:2-7). What we know about God is useless if we do nothing with it, the Pharisees are proof.
They learned the Old Testament since childhood and failed to apply it to their lives. Our identity is in Jesus, not what we know about Him—God is our banner!
They missed the Savior, the answer isn’t gaining knowledge, it is applying the knowledge to our lives. Jesus is proof of that and why we are forgiven. And that is what this blog is about.
KNOWLEDGE?
Knowledge is, “the sum of what is known, the body of truth, information, and principles acquired by humankind.”
Since we are human and want to be somebody we each try to acquire different types of knowledge. Unfortunately, knowledge is useless if it is not applied.
While in men’s ministry, I was approached by an older brother who shared he struggled to get into the word. He said he really wanted to, but just didn’t have the time.
He was a friend; I kindly told him getting into the Bible was the easy part. But getting the Bible into our lives was the hard part. A successful Christian life isn’t about memorizing as many verses as possible, it is letting the word change us and what we DO—how we live.
I use love and grace as examples. I can read every romance novel or expository on grace and never fully understand either until I experience them. Most things in life are best learned through experience, sometimes even bad experiences.
This is why most of Jesus’ teachings fell on deaf ears, until He used parables for illustrations. Unfortunately, most of us only learn the hard way, even though we have all the answers.What do I know; I thought I could save myself too
I knew better than to live how I did when I was younger. But I failed to apply what I knew to my life and it killed me. I am just as stubborn as my mother, today would’ve been her 67th birthday.
Years before my parents were diagnosed with cancer, the doctor told them about the effect smoking was having. But they chose to do nothing with the information and it cost them their lives. I will never forget watching them waste away, especially my father when he couldn’t walk to the bathroom without me helping.
My mother had fear in her eyes when she couldn’t hold down water without coughing up a lung. This is why I pray for anyone who smokes any kind of cigarette, it is not worth it and you should be afraid, it’s not okay!
King Solomon said the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7), because fools don’t want to do anything with what they learn. The Pharisees had all the knowledge of God and scripture, but did nothing with it.
JUST DO IT?
The Christian life isn’t about being happy all the time because of what we know. It’s about using what we know to show others the love of God. We can’t spend Sunday in church and love less.
Mondays are the hardest time to practice what we learn in church. Every moment is an opportunity to let your little light shine for Jesus. Matthew shares a story about Jesus and a young expert in the law who wanted to have eternal life. He knew the commandments and knew they couldn’t save him. Jesus told him to go and do something and he would be perfect(Matthew 19:16-22).
Religion is an example of how we can get so much information and fail to use it —it is pointless. Like the Pharisees, many Christians go on a powertrip and neglect to do anything. Sometimes church can be like a bunch of rednecks boasting about themselves at a good ole’ hoedown or therapy session.
IMAGINE spending your entire life learning things and never using it in life. Life isn’t some happy-go-lucky vacation. Next month when I go to a writers' conference, it will be to further my career, not just FYI!
