The blog of a man STILL addicted to beef jerky

Saturday, October 28, 2006

It's been a year

13 months ago, I wrote a post on here, asking us if we've truly grown. To summarize that post, I said that if we learn more about the Bible, learn more about ourselves and our weaknesses, spend more time with God, and continue to screw up in the same ways, have we really improved? The results indicate no. If I'm still as selfish or covetous or lustful or whatever as I was a year ago, regardless of how much more I've learned, I haven't really improved. Knowing not to do wrong and still doing it doesn't make me any better. In fact, because I know that what I'm doing is wrong and I continue to do it, I'm more responsible for my actions.

I'll give you the example of a smart guy and a not as smart guy, both of whom God has called. This is just a made up example to help me prove my point. The smart guy can pick up on sermons and topics in the Bible fairly quickly. He can see and understand parallels, remember where certain scriptures are, and can see the parts of his life that need to be worked on.

Then there's the not as smart guy. He has to read certain chapters more than once to understand what they mean. He completely avoids certain parts of the Bible because they would be way above his head. He has to spend more time asking God to help him see and understand.

Who has the advantage, based on the way I have described these 2 guys? The not as smart guy, and I'll tell you why. Christianity is more than just "book smarts". Knowledge is great, and we are commanded to get understanding and grow in knowledge. But just knowing our Bibles won't save us.

In the example I gave, the smart guy was maybe a little too zealous. He understood the milk and wanted the meat. The elementary principles were easy, he wanted the more complex things. In his haste, he failed to lay a true foundation. He didn't have to pray to God as much because he didn't have to ask for as much help. He didn't study his Bible as much because it made sense the first time he read through. Without taking his time and setting that true and real foundation, he failed to truly have a relationship with God. His knowledge was more important than the One who gave it to him.

The less smart guy, while slower, developed his foundation. He spent more time reading, more time praying and meditating. Reading the Bible became more of a joy for him because it wasn't easy, and he could see the fruits of his labor. God became real to him because he spent time learning about Him and spending time with Him.

If we want to build a building, we had better take the time to lay the foundation, and plant the seed in the right soil. We had better want to keep learning, but that can't be all that we do. We need to make God real to us, if we haven't already. We need to spend time with Him, learn from our mistakes and from the mistakes of others and become wiser. We need to practice mercy and patience and all those other qualities.

We need our religion to be much more than just a mental one. It needs to be a social and emotional one. We can't just know it, we need to live it.

In the last year, have you truly grown? If you've gotten smarter in the ways of God, and that's about it, then the answer is no. You have failed, yes, failed to live with Christ in you. There are thousands of ministers out there in worldly churches that know what the Bible says a lot better than you. They have the knowledge. What'll that get them? It won't be the reward you and I are aspiring to achieve. Yes, if they repent and change their ways, they will can achieve that same goal also. But they have to CHANGE THEIR WAYS because all their knowledge will amount to nothing! The same thing applies to you, regardless of if you know the truth.

I ask this question one more time: In the last year, have you truly grown? The Feast will be here in 11 months. That's about a year, plenty of time for you to learn, and plenty of time to change. Be slow if you have to. When you clean your room before Unleavened Bread, it's a slow process. You have to move things, clean them, clean behind them, put them back, and after an hour, it may not seem like you've accomplished much. To God, a 3 hour deep clean is better than a 20 minute touch up. Be slow and steady if you have to, but get something done.

Knowledge is great, and as I said earlier, we are commanded to get it. But we need more than knowledge, much more. Knowledge is only part of the marvelous puzzle God has set for each of us to solve. Let's figure out what the picture is before we start putting the pieces together. Let's lay down or cement our foundation before we build on it. I hope that in one year, all of us, including and especially me, can say that we have truly grown. God bless us all.