Whadaya Know?
Philippians 3:10 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself.
Awareness awaits information/knowledge.
Conviction awaits awareness.
Belief awaits conviction.
Inspiration/motivation awaits belief.
Action/faith awaits Inspiration/motivation.
Experience awaits action/faith.
True knowledge/understanding awaits experience.
Just knowing information isn’t enough. The perishing religious leaders that Jesus had such a good time with definitely weren’t without a wealth of information. Sometimes, maybe more often than not, too much information can actually inhibit coming to really know about something. Where there is an accumulation of information without it ever going through the process of understanding, there is just a buildup of fuel for conflicting arguments and confusion. Better it is for there to be a resulting action at the acquisition of one truth than for there to be a stagnation and stench with the accumulation of many unbelieved and unused tidbits. Knowing information is one thing, but really understanding/knowing and using it is another thing altogether.
It’s amazing when an individual demonstrates a developed mind in the area of information acquisition, retention and recall. On television lately they have been showing the national spelling bee contests. It’s incredible how well these young people can, in front of the world, process their exposure to so many odd, strange, and little used words. You can tell, though, when they don’t remember the word itself and are just making an educated guess based upon the language of origin, alternate pronunciations, and definitions. On the other hand, there is a light of confidence that comes over their face at the first hearing of a word that has been experienced. The more time spent with the word in looking at it and discovering things about it removes any inhibitions or worries about its mere spelling. It is known.
There is a world of confident action awaiting the person who really begins to know the love of Christ. For the one who spends time looking at it, discovering more about it and actually living it, there is an incredible expansion of potential. With each experienced truth there is an entrance into a realm of possibilities that, while there all the time, is withheld from access until true knowledge and understanding opens its door. Where sin once held domination with its resulting death, there is, in discovering what Jesus’ love did to cleanse our sin, an opportunity to really know this truth and experience its life. By acting on what is learned about His death, burial and resurrection, it is possible for real knowledge of this truth to be experienced in a fruitful life of righteousness. From that point on there is a glory and wonder to be found in each subsequent experience of Him that will begin to make knowing anything else seem quite inferior.
There are many that say they know about Christ. Some even might be pretty good at saying, “Lord, Lord”. But, only true knowledge of Him will bring salvation and escape from the consequences of a sinful and destructive nature. It won’t be those who have just gathered the most information about Him, either. Only by taking each awareness of His love through the process of experienced understanding can He be truly known and served. To know Him more will take precedence over every other knowledge as soon as the smallest truth of Him is known, and we will, like Paul begin giving up “all that inferior stuff” for the sake of really knowing Christ.
