For the Living

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
- Psalm 111:10 -

It is so easy for us to know a lot about the Bible, about God and his commands.  I find myself learning a lot when I study the Bible, and I enjoy telling others what I have learnt.  It feels good.  It feels like I am growing, and others think I am growing too.  But when I really have a good look at myself, I wonder: I may know a lot, but how much do I really understand?  Not much, really. Doctrine in itself is dead.  It is but letters on a page.  What does it mean that Christ lives in me?  What does it mean to know God and love him?  Have I known through experience the lordship of Christ and the leading of his Spirit?  I can tell so many people about these doctrines with such great passion, but are they real to me in my life?  Surely it is better to know little and yet have that knowledge as a reality, than to know a lot and yet understand little.  Surely it is better to know little theology and have God as a real person in my life than it is to know deep theology and have him as little more than a concept. While knowledge is essential, much knowledge has a way of making us proud (1 Cor 8:1) and clouding our judgement.  We imagine we are maturing when we are not.  We are distracted from true knowledge - the type that is piously lived out.  Knowledge is never for the having.  It is always for the living.  Like mathematics, God and his Word will not become real to us until we put our knowledge to practice and apply it to our lives through obedience.  And that reality of the person of God and his Word is better than all the knowledge we could ever accumulate.