Proverbs 2:1-5. 1My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
Did you learn anything this past year? What new knowledge did you gain? Have you gained any spiritual insights? Did you have to learn anything the hard way?
Proverbs is fundamentally a collection of wisdom gathered by a father for his son. The king for his heir. Solomon wanted his son, Rehoboam, to be able to rule with wisdom and understanding. He wanted him to call out for it, seek it, and search for it, just as he did. Why? Because then he will have the knowledge of God. And there is nothing more valuable, especially for a king who is a “son of God.”
But can a person even know God?
The Bible’s answer is yes. Maybe not fully, for God is infinite. But God is also unchanging. He can be known in truth, for he is truth. The bottom line is that there is nothing more important than knowing God, and we can only know as much about God as he has revealed to us. In Solomon’s day, God revealed himself through creation and through his word (see yesterday’s devotional). Obviously there is much about God’s revelation of himself that we can seek after like treasure. We can try to understand creation better. We can study God’s word. And in so doing, we can know God more and more. There are also many things about God that we simply have to trust, because we can’t understand them fully. This is why knowledge and faith always go hand in hand. To know God requires first that we trust him. To know the reality of anything requires first that we trust in God. Less faith in God = less knowledge of the world, truth, and reality, especially the unseen realities.
Of course the greatest unseen reality is God himself. Thankfully God has made himself known. He has made his invisible attributes visible through creation. He has made his invisible character, deeds, and decrees known through his word. Of course the greatest revelation of the invisible God is the visible God, Jesus.
John 1:18. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
Do you want to be wise this new year? Then seek to know God. Do you want to know God this new year? Then seek to know Christ, Jesus. Everything we need to know about God we can know through the knowledge of Jesus Christ. So the question is how will you cultivate knowledge about Christ but also faith in Christ this new year?
The classic spiritual disciplines have worked well for 2000 years. Scripture, prayer, meditation. Not just to know the Bible, but to know Jesus, the God of the Bible. Practicing the presence of Christ by the Spirit. Knowing and trusting that he has made his home in your soul and poured his love into your heart. Putting this truth to the test by actively choosing to live like Christ. Choosing to embrace our union with him. His dying and his living. His serving and his loving.
I’m not talking about making resolutions. I’m talking about walking by faith. Faith in the indwelling life of God in us. Faith in his salvation of us. Knowing God through simple faith in Christ.
You: Would you say you know God better now than you did a year ago? In what way?
You in Christ: How can meditating on your union with Christ help you know and trust him more?
Christ in you: What spiritual disciplines can you implement this year to know and trust Christ more?
Prayer: Father, you have made yourself known in Christ. Help me to pursue the knowledge of you through faith in Jesus this next year. Amen.
To Live is Christ 