Last night at like 2am I couldn’t sleep. So I got up and started doing some devotions. I don’t even remember what I read, all I know is somehow I was struck with the idea I need to be educated by God and who He is. I’ve been thinking about it since then. I’ve always thought that you don’t have an education with just knowledge. There is a vast difference between someone who is knowledgeable and someone who is educated. That difference is UNDERSTANDING. If I know something but don’t understand it I am not educated. If I know that 2 plus 2 is 4 but I don’t understand the principle of addition then I just have knowledge not an education. You see being a pastors kid, I know who God is, I can quote scripture, tell you stories and parallels where God has been evident in my life. But, I don’t understand Him. That is my fault. I used to describe Gods Word like this, Its the history of your best friend. You cant have a great friendship with someone without knowing where they have come from and how the re-acted in certain situations. And what they have gone through. Imagine trying to have a friendship with someone you know nothing about, if it was a friendship valued by you would you not do everything you could to learn about your friend. Well what I learned at 2 am was that its not just enough to know about their past but to understand it. Understanding why someone did the things they did or what they faced creates a vastly deeper appreciation of who they are. It unlocks their characteristics, personality traits. And so it is with God. When we stop just trying to know God and try to understand Him that is when we can love Him. How do you love someone for who they are when you don’t know who they are, you just know what they’ve done. For years I’ve loved God for what He’s done in my life, but not for WHO HE IS. It is my desire for not only me but all of us, to not just know Him but to understand Him, and Love Him for Him and not just for what He’s done. I guess maybe that’s why I don’t like the mission statement, ” To know Him and make Him known”, how about to understand Him and love Him. God may today I understand you more and fall deeper in love with you than ever more. Educate me on you more in-depth everyday, that I may fall madly in love with all of who you are and not just what you’ve done for me.
