Knowing is the Same as Not Knowing


If you are older than the age of 30, you probably remember doing a research paper in school and having to go to the library and look up your subject in an Encyclopaedia. If you were really lucky, your family invested in the high cost of knowledge to have the information at your fingertips – a whole set in your own home.

Nowadays, most of us have iPhones, or SmartPhones that have a Google app that give us the ability to look up anything, anytime. There is no time delay, no difference between knowing something and not knowing something. With all this information and knowledge, you’d think we would have evolved and yet there is no real evidence that we are any smarter and common sense and basic courtesy seems to go the way of a lemming and jumped a cliff.

Paul prays for us to gain knowledge (Colossians 1:9) but Jesus chastises the Pharisees because of their knowledge (Luke 11:52). Daniel acknowledges that God is the one who gives knowledge to the discerning and wisdom to the wise (Daniel 2:21). Isaiah cautions that the people go into exile because of their lack of knowledge (Isaiah 5:13).

Clearly seeking and having knowledge isn’t the problem; it’s what we do with it.

I attended Bible School fresh out of high school but the school didn’t have academic requirements, so I didn’t receive a Bible or Theology degree, though recently I had contemplated returning to Seminary school to complete a degree. Before I committed to a degree program, I tested the waters by taking a course I picked based on interest, rather than requirement. It was a 4th year class and my fellow students were up and coming pastors and ministry workers. I was excited because I was at the epicentre of faith and learning.

Except it wasn’t what I expected, not even a little.

Most of the students in the class were just like the Pharisees - always learning but never understanding. I didn’t want to be like that. My dream was deflated and I was discouraged. I wanted to know God so desperately and it seemed like my hope was lost.

The hope I thought I had lost was returned when I read the words of Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great, unsearchable things you do not know.” I had have a lot of questions. Could I really ask God for answers? He answered me Matthew 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.”

Knowledge that gives rest for my soul – Wow. That’s worth something because it nourishes me. Knowledge that I learn from Jesus is not the same as the world - knowing is the same as not knowing. Knowledge that finds it origin in Jesus is knowing and being changed, forever.

Where and why do you seek knowledge?

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