Knowing Christ

Yesterday's devotional from "Experiencing God Day By Day really ministered to me so I wanted to share it with you. I have been saying here at Macedonia, but not as well as this devotional puts it, God is looking for people who will live in practice and principle the Bible rather than people who will recite in performance and parade.

“You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me.
And you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”—John 5:39–40

Bible study will not give you eternal life. You could memorize the entire Bible and be able to discuss minute issues of biblical scholarship and yet fail to experience the truths found in its pages. It is a subtle temptation to prefer the book to the Author. A book will not confront you about your sin, the Author will. Books can be ignored; it is much harder to avoid the Author when He is seeking a relationship with you.

The Pharisees in Jesus' day thought God would be pleased with their knowledge of His Word. They could quote long, complicated passages of Scripture. They loved to recite and study God's Law for hours on end. Yet Jesus condemned them because, although they knew the Scriptures, they did not know God. They were proud of their Bible knowledge, but they rejected the invitation to know God's Son.

Can you imagine yourself knowing all that God has promised to do in your life but then turning to something else instead? You may be tempted to turn to substitutes. These substitutes aren't necessarily bad things. They might include serving in the church, doing good deeds, or reading Christian books. No amount of Christian activity will ever replace your relationship with Jesus. The apostle Paul considered every “good” thing he had ever done to be “rubbish” when compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ (Phil. 3:8). Never become satisfied with religious activity rather than a personal, vibrant, and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Experiencing God Day by Day: A Devotional and Journal.

I pray this blessed you as it did me, I later this morning found this quote from Dick Biggs that was posted on John Maxwell's blog on Leadership that hoped me a little further, it said, "The greatest gap in life is the one between knowing and doing".

Owens