The Knowledge of God

"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 
turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 
and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,  
and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 
then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God." 


Proverbs 2:1-5 (NIV)




Reading the Bible can be a daunting proposition.  Parts of the Bible are, without a doubt, difficult to understand.  And, some parts of the Bible are difficult even to want to understand -- think Leviticus.


Not long ago we were on a road trip and Pam decided to get the entire Bible on CD.  We stopped at a Barnes & Noble somewhere in Colorado.  Pam ran in the store and came back out fifteen minutes or so later with a large bag that included her audio Bible.  


The store had only one CD set covering the entire Bible.  It happened to be the King James Version, which wouldn't have necessarily been my first choice.  On the other hand, this audio Bible was narrated by James Earl Jones -- which almost made it seem like God was narrating His own book!


Pam decided we would start with the New Testament.  As we drove Pam would frequently stop the CD player to discuss something that particularly got her attention.  Sometimes it would be a nuance that she hadn't noticed before.  Sometimes it would confirm an understanding she had about the Bible.   Sometimes she would just want to discuss the meaning of a particular passage or the account of the event being described.  


Pam and I discuss the Bible with some frequency.  Usually, though, our discussion is in the context of a specific point of theology or, more frequently, how the Bible guides us to act and react to specific situations.  It was kind of cool to be able to listen to the Bible together and just talk about whatever came up and whatever happened to catch our attention.


I guess my point is that God has a way of revealing Himself in new and unexpected ways just about every time I pick up a Bible.  And, I think God wants it that way.  I think God wants us to struggle with His Word -- to take the time to turn our full attention to Him and eagerly listen to what He has to say.  And, I believe that if we accept His words and store up His commands within us, turning our ears to wisdom and applying our hearts to understanding, and if we call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if we look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then, and perhaps only then, will we understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.


If you know me well you know that I am really big on Christians taking the time to read the Bible on a regular basis.  Or maybe more accurately, I am really frustrated that more Christians don't take the time to read the Bible regularly.  I mean, if you have the opportunity to sit down and listen to the creator of the universe speak to you, why wouldn't you want to do that?




P.S.


If you were at second service last Sunday and are wondering about the name for Jesus that I mentioned, turn to The Gospel of John 1:1-14.  The name is "The Word."