As we continued on in our study on various idols in our lives, we looked at success, achievements, careers, and materialism.
The one which spoke most deeply to my own life was knowledge.
We begin learning from the moment we are born. More so, from the beginning of creation man, and woman, wanted to be in the know.
The study brought us back to the fall in the garden. Adam and Eve were tempted to eat of the fruit because the serpent presented the lie that in so doing, they would be like God.
“They believed the lie that God was holding out on them, and they followed their idolatrous desire for knowledge. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a symbol for our tendency to exalt our own knowledge over the loving knowledge of God.”
(from More than Anything, by The Daily Grace Co., page 83)
We want to know – know more, and know everything. We get one degree, only to pursue the next degree. Our thirst to know is not quenched.
And yet, our need to “know” can only be satisfied, or quenched, in knowing God.
Everything we need to know, He can reveal to us or bring the knowledge to us.
This is not to say that we are not to learn. But when our quest for knowledge puffs us up, it has become an idol in our lives.
We can be tempted to idolize the pursuit of knowledge.
As I read the study, two thoughts came to me:
- Proverbs 2:6: “For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (NASB) He will make us to know what we need to know.
- “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” (Theodore Roosevelt)
That verse and quote have helped me several times when I have struggled with not finishing my college degree. They help me to remember that God makes us smarter than we can ever be on our own, or with our degrees.
May we be wise in our pursuit of knowledge,
coming to know God
more deeply than anything or anyone else.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29, NASB)
Image by Joachim Schnürle from Pixabay
Today I may be joining … Tell His Story
I was just reading this morning about Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1, that we might “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Knowledge of Him is the best knowledge there is. Sadly, we can even be proud of that sometimes. May God help us keep the right perspective.
What a reminder we find in this verse.