What do you do with what you know?

I was reflecting on a conversation that I had with a church member on a recent visit. She lamented that she did not know the Scriptures as much as some of the others within the church despite her daily reading of the Holy Scriptures. I told her how much I respected her desire to read daily the blessed Word of God. I reminded her of one simple yet profound truth: It is not what you know but what you do with what you know. Jesus taught that being a follower was not just about believing what He says, but also doing what He says.
 

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24)

A true measure of spiritual success is not but how much Bible a person knows. In fact, a person could memorize and recite the whole Bible word for word from Genesis to Revelation (if that is possible), yet it still does not guarantee that the individual is right with God.

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.” (Matthew 7:26)

It is great to learn in Sunday School, morning worship, or even Wednesday night Bible study, but it can never impact you in a way that a personal Bible study can. A genuine personal Bible study is taking what you read and applying it to your life. True belief is not only believing what is said, but also applying what is said to your own life. Today, the case for personal Bible Study is even more necessary than ever. The very truth that we believe is being challenged and changed to fit certain agendas and preferences. We are finding “theological doctrines” that is inconsistent with the whole of the Word of God. Peter challenges us to give a ready defense for the hope that is within us (I Peter 3:15). To truly make what we believe and what we know ours, we must daily search for the unsearchable riches found in His Word and not only know what they are, but to believe what they are and ensure that they are very much a part of our lives. Remember, true spiritual blessings and living a life that impacts others around you does not rely on what you know, it is doing something in our life with what we know.

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)
 

I simply reminded her that anybody can know the Bible what the Bible says but that is not what matters to the heart of God. Knowledge of the Bible amounts to nothing when life's difficult circumstances come our way.  We will only be empowered and enabled by applying what we know to our life in those times.  What matters is that we take what we hear and what we know, apply it to our lives, let that truth genuinely change us inside and out, and living a life of obedience. That is true, genuine belief. That is the impact the Bible must have on us. Yes, anyone can know the Bible, but is their life consistent…..with all of it?

Blessings from Belleview: A Blessing Amid the Okras

My okras this year have been a huge success. They sprouted to almost 6 feet and have produced a bundle of okras for me this year. Over the last several weeks, I have watched a vine sprawl where a garden once struggled to grow. The leaves looked familiar. I have seen them somewhere. I decided to let it grow to see what it becomes. I watched it slowly crawl upwards, gingerly wrapping itself in a spiral around the sturdy stalks of the okra bush. Today as I ventured into the garden, I noticed splashes of blue among a green backdrop with a touch of white. I walked to the garden, I gently fingered the soft delicate blue petals of the morning glory plant that has grown and blossomed since the rains of Isaac 2 weeks ago. As I admired the handiwork of nature's beauty before me beneath the late summer afternoon sunlight, I could only ponder the lesson I was being taught by what I was seeing. Summer may be on its way out, but it does not mean the work of beauty has to be ended. For many, this past summer has been a struggle with the heat and the drought, but what remains behind us does not necessarily affect what is to come ahead of us. Especially if we don't allow it to. Soon, the lush green leaves of summer will give way to the vivid brushstrokes of reds, yellows, and orange amid the rocky bluffs between the Illinois and Mississippi River. Each color tinted and highlighted by the soon coming rays of the autumn sun. Yes, the growing season soon be over for many, but God's beauty is far from finished. I admired the beauty that was before me one last time, harvested my last watermelon and casually glanced to the crystal clear blue sky above me. I softly prayed a simple prayer and said, "I can't wait to see what is ahead". I walked away from the last of my garden more blessed than when I went in.

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, (Philippians 3:13)