I want to know more of you Lord!
Colossians 1:10”That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God..”
If you visit some of the metropolitan cities in India, you would see plethora of prayer conferences, fire camps, worship festivals and many such meetings, with solid presentations, video clippings; following these flamboyant meetings, there would be sales of books, tapes and what not! Despite all this hoopla and much communication there is less knowledge of God! I write this with a heavy heart! More than jumping from one prayer hall to another, let us stay still and know that He is Lord! Are you listening?
After accepting Jesus Christ, your duty does not stop there, you got to make every effort to grow, know about God and His ways, make every effort to read the Bible and fellowship with good believers. Today we have youth meetings which hardly has any spiritual nourishment! Accountability is very important for growth! Find a mentor, and give account of your prayer life, Bible reading schedule and share your feelings; without all this you would be a stunted Christian. We have youth puffed up with knowledge of computers, encyclopedia and what not; but hear me please, without knowledge of God, you are nothing. The Bible says, Proverbs 14:6 “The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.”
In the above scripture taken for meditation, we see Apostle Paul praying one of his wonderful prayers for the believers to: a) walk worthy of the Lord, b) please Him in all our ways, c) being fruitful in every good work and d) increasing in the knowledge of God. Observe the words of Paul, he does not say, ‘grow in the knowledge of the Lord’, but he prays, ‘increasing in the knowledge of God.’ Let us look into our hearts right now!
We would not be jumping in and out of affairs, groping in the dark for the will of God for our future, daringly getting into atrocious sins and still feel good about ourselves. The Lord says, Hosea 6:6 “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. “
Why would we tremble and shiver, when we encounter crisis in our life? We would sail through the rough patch of our life, if we have ample knowledge of our God; just this thought, ‘my God, would never mean harm for me, He would bring me out of this’, would calm our spirit. Do you agree with me? When Job’s skin got stuck to his flesh, even kids mocked him and while he was in this pit of hopelessness, he declared, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: “ (Job 19:25) Boy, this is a wonderful declaration ! No devil can guffaw at you when you praise your God from the deepest pit! Friend, this kind of trust in God is no magic! It comes from your regular fellowship with God and also from diligently reading His Word. Job had the habit of waking up early and praying for his kids and for himself. (Job 1:5) He drew his energy for the day not from the gym or from a hot energy drink, he got his strength from His God. Praise the Lord!
We have many Christians into adultery, embezzlement of funds, corruption and living like the world because they have no clue about their God. Read, Hosea 4:6”My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”
Destruction follows lack of knowledge of God: The sons of High priest Eli were 24x7 inside the temple of God; yet this is what is said about them in the Bible: 1 Samuel 2:12.”Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD. “ Now, this one statement is enough to point fingers at the scandalous crimes they committed. They misbehaved with the women who came to the temple and also treated the offerings of the Lord with disrespect. The latter half of what I have said sent shivers up my spine! When the offerings of the Lord are misused or embezzled, the wrath of God would come down on the person heavily. This knowledge fails to visit their brains, when they get an opportunity to sin, they rush to disobey God callously. The nonchalant attitude of father Eli was the cause of the destruction of the family; finally, both his sons and the entire family died on one single day.
Peace is promised for those who know their Lord: Daniel 11:32 “Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Man, this is a powerful statement! When the pink slip is handed over to us, when we are shown the door, when the doctor proclaims danger about your health, when relationships deteriorate and finances plummet, we don’t have to shudder; knowledge about His goodness and mercy would put our nerves to rest. Amen.
We read one of the beautiful statement of Apostle Paul when he was locked up in the prison in his old age, instead of being bitter, frustrated and frightened, he roared ;
2 Timothy 1:7”For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1: 12”… I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. “
Powerful!
Youngsters have the birthdates of film celebrities and details of their latest affairs neatly saved in their memory, but alas knowledge of our Lord has been shoved under the carpet! Can we ask God passionately like Moses: Exodus 33:18"Please, show me Your glory."
