“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Hosea 4:6 NKJV
“Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks he knows anything, he knows nothing as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.” I Corinthians 8:1-3 NKJV.
Knowledge: This is what everyone is running after. Knowledge is the capacity to explain everything and the ability to have a lot of information about everything. The more knowledge, the more we are “respected, worshipped, and elevated.”
The scripture says that a lack of knowledge destroys the people of God. And God adds that because they rejected knowledge, He leaves them. What is it that they refused? What knowledge is God referring to here?
Paul, however, tells us that we have all knowledge now. But that knowledge is making us puffed! This knowledge compromises us because we THINK we know but don’t know.
LOVE is the ultimate knowledge; we come to have all knowledge when we can love as God loves. The Israelites lacked understanding of what is required to LOVE their God, and they knew not that LOVE is the teachings of the law and the prophets. They even rejected the law and the prophets, hence rejecting the knowledge of God.
The Pharisees were full of knowledge! They accepted the law and the prophets and studied and studied daily! But they became puffed up with the amount of knowledge they had. It obstructed their hearts, closed their eyes, and they could not see. Because they grew in the Knowledge of INFORMATION and not of faith and relationships, they missed the Messiah.
We are no different! We want to show everyone how much we know about the bible. How much we can quote and “explain,” how much we can “preach” or “teach.” We are so full of knowledge (INFORMATION) and want to make known that we KNOW.
When it comes to faith and our Christian life, When God says that we should KNOW Him, it does not mean we should have all the information about him, and it means that we should have an ongoing relationship with Him. Knowing is not information; it’s a living experience; it’s understanding and living out what God teaches us.
And the product of such knowledge is LOVE. The more we KNOW God, the more we can LOVE like him.
The less we KNOW Him, the less we can LOVE as He LOVES.
How is your love for others? How is your love for the suffering, the sinners, the rejected, and the sick? How is your knowledge growing, dear brothers and sisters? What are you missing?
