Serving the God of knowledge

“Ambition without knowledge is like a boat on dry ground.” I like that saying and wish that I had come up with it, but I didn’t, instead it’s a line from an old movie that I will refrain from citing here. The message is a good one, though, and I thought I would share it with all of you.

Interestingly enough, I was reading in 1 Samuel this morning and a passage just jumped off the page. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, that “Hey, where did that come from?” – feeling when a scripture, seemingly from nowhere, appears as if you’re wearing 3D glasses. It was in 1 Samuel 2:2-3: “No one is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God. “Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the Lord is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.” The NIV renders this phrase “God of knowledge” as the “God who knows.” The Creator God is omniscient, all knowing, and he sees all things. He shares relevant knowledge with mankind through His word, the Holy Bible.

We serve the God of knowledge. He is the originator of pure, wholesome, righteous, sound, trustworthy, and life-giving knowledge. He knows the hearts of all human beings and Hannah was acknowledging this fact in her thanksgiving ode to God (1 Samuel 2:1-11) after being blessed with a son, Samuel, whom she dedicated to God after He heard her prayer in the Tabernacle. She trusted that God knew what was best for her, but she also knew she could go to God and seek the petitions of her heart. God looked on Hannah’s heart and saw her willingness to give her firstborn son to God – a selfless act of devotion and worship before God and He honored her request by healing her infirmity and providing her not only with Samuel, but with three other sons and two daughters (1 Samuel 2:21) in addition.

God blessed her abundantly for her recognition of who the Giver really was. The meaning of Samuel’s name was “lend on request” and that is exactly what had happened. Hannah asked and God gave. God weighs our actions, thoughts, and attitudes. He looks on our hearts. He wants to see what we’re asking for and if we’re using knowledge rightly, that we are seeking to share the precious knowledge that He has entrusted to us and preserved for us in His word. He wants to see if we are givers like Hannah was and like He was toward Hannah. The Apostle Paul preserved the words which Jesus spoke in this regard when he wrote, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

We should have ambition, or a mission if you will, and that mission involves spreading the knowledge that God has given to us, the amazing gospel message of Jesus Christ, to all the world – and all of us can have a part in it. We are told in Isaiah 5:13, “Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge…” Captivity is the sad condition which occurs when an empire, a nation, a government, a church, a family, or even an individual lacks or regrettably hates godly knowledge. We read in Proverbs 1:28-29: “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord…”

Hannah did choose the fear of God. Hannah acknowledged that God was the source for knowledge and God heard her when she sought Him diligently. We have been commanded by Christ to “go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel” (Matthew 10:6) and to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). How much more should we have zeal and determination to fulfill this exhortation seeing America in the death throws which have come upon it due to an astounding lack of, resistance to, and even hate toward godly knowledge.

One thing we know as well is that Satan is ever ready to steal away knowledge from those who receive the truth just in passing, or who lack deep enough roots in the knowledge of God (Mark 4:1-20). The whole world lies under the sway of Satan. “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). Satan is also promoting knowledge in the world – the knowledge of good and evil.

In Hosea 4:6-7 God states, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge,” that is, real godly knowledge that flows from the law of God and the word of God and instead listened to and heeded the false sinful knowledge of the god of this age – Satan, “I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased,” and we have as a nation increased fantastically, “The more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame”. As a nation, America has forgotten the law of God and for this reason, God will allow the Great Tribulation to come upon the modern day descendants of ancient Israel which will result in national captivity.

We must be seeking daily the knowledge of righteousness and seeking to align ourselves more completely with the will and purpose of God as this is the only path that leads to life and true freedom. Satan is surcharging the air with his wrong knowledge and in so doing leading America toward imminent bondage, and the world toward impending doom. I encourage you to read the Tomorrow’s World article Satan’s Agenda. Yes, how much more should we be ON FIRE to preach the gospel message now, while there is still time!

It was Jesus Christ who said, “…you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). The knowledge of the truth sets us free. We don’t have to live life like a boat caught on dry land. We can be those who are “…sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit” (Mark 4:20). We must sow the word, the knowledge of God, and then be ready and able to reap the harvest, the increase, that God will surely provide if we do our part.

Through seeking the knowledge that God has made so abundantly available to us and then using that knowledge rightly and proclaiming it boldly to all the world, we can fulfill the mission that Jesus Christ has given to us to do – the most important mission on the face of planet earth. The most important mission in all history. Let us be about our Father’s business. Let us serve the God of knowledge faithfully.