"Knowledge is power."

This saying is used so much in today's society. Whether it is Christians or Atheists. However, how powerful is the knowledge? What makes it so powerful to begin with? We study mathematics and we can move on to learn physics and from there understand the laws of the world. We study science and we learn the process of which humans develop from a single cell to a fully grown member of society. We study psychology and sociology and we can start to understand why this member of society is successful or why they fail. Knowledge can give us an amazing understanding of the world and the people in it. It helps us to make choices and react to the situations or circumstances of our everyday lives. Knowing how to dress and feed yourself, knowing how to drive a car. All of this is knowledge we take for granted. However, does the power come from simply knowing? Or does the power truly come to us when we step out and experience the fruit of that knowledge first hand? Let’s look at this as a process. Growing up I joined band in high school and played the trombone. Now my first day, I sat in my seat and I watched my instructor play the trombone herself, all the while explaining everything to me in riveting detail; where to place my hands, how to change from note to note. Now, in my head, I could have told you everything she was telling me. During the next session I picked up my own trombone for the first time. It was cold, heavier than I had anticipated, and awkward to try to balance. It was time to draw from the knowledge I had learned and apply it, but playing that first song was much harder than I was expecting. I got the notes wrong, I even knocked my music stand over. Then I thought, "What if I had tried this without my teachers' instructions?"

So I think back and realize, nothing I have ever learned came from the knowledge, but from applying that knowledge and experiencing the outcome first hand. In doing so I have come to realize that the knowledge does not make one powerful but it is actually just a step in the process of reaching for that power. So why, body of believers, do we get so caught on just our knowledge of the bible? My question here is not of the importance of the Word of God but on the idea that so many see the Word and ignore The Father. So many read and read and read, studying every word, every context, every meaning. Yet they end the process there with the application nowhere to be found. In John 5:39-40 Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You search the Scriptures because you think that [in them] you have eternal life; it is these that testify about [Me]; and you are unwilling to come to [Me] so that you may have life.”

Our lives are not saved, we are not rescued from death by the bible or even by knowing the bible. Jesus was crucified, defeated death, and promised His return. The bible is our tool, it is our way of learning and understanding God’s will, and just “knowing” the words God speaks to us through it is not the end all be all. Proverbs 3:1, “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments.” It is about faith and belief down to the very core of who we are. It is finding our identity in Christ and living it out, not just studying the word but applying it. Seeing and learning about the man Jesus was and living out that life style. Don’t become complacent with just knowing the stories, because He lives today. Experience Him. To do that takes much more than just the knowledge of Jesus, but the experience of walking with him daily, falling, seeing our mistakes, looking to our Lord, breathing Him in and straining forward to what lies ahead. Don’t just read about Jesus, live with Him. Praying for you.