Hello! In January of this year, I made a commitment to begin reading the Bible daily. It’s been a wonderful experience, and every Saturday here, I will share a blog post about what I am learning. If you would like to read more of my posts on the Bible, please check out the Bible Study category of posts. If this type of content isn’t what you are looking for, no worries, I will be back to talking about marketing and business news and topics throughout the week!
Before I dive into today’s topic, I wanted to clarify something. These posts I am writing on what I am learning from reading the Bible are my thoughts and opinions. Just because I think a certain way does NOT mean I am 100% right, in fact I’m sure my thoughts will no doubt change and grow the more I learn. Think of what I write as more of a ‘conversation starter’ or ‘here’s what I think’ versus ‘here’s the way it is’. I want these posts to be accessible to people who are curious about the Bible, and wanting to learn more. Because I am too!
Now, here’s what I want to talk about today. As I’ve been reading the Bible, one of the themes that continually comes up is the concept of God granting wisdom, or even depriving people of knowledge. For example, when the angels visited Lot in Sodom, the townsfolk came to his house and demanded to see them. The angels temporarily made the townspeople blind so they could not find the door to enter the house. In Exodus, God granted wisdom to Bezalel so that he would understand how to build the tabernacle to God’s exact specifications. In the story of the Tower of Babel, God made the people to speak in different languages so they couldn’t communicate as easily.
When Jesus taught, he often used parables. At one point, His disciplines ask Him why He speaks in parables, which leads to this fascinating exchange in Matthew 13:10-17:
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
“Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” What a powerful verse! The entire passage above seems to suggest that if we are faithful to God and open our hearts to Him, He will reward us with wisdom and knowledge. And if we take that gift and apply it to our lives in a way that brings Him glory, we will then be given additional gifts. “Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.”
Every day before I start to read the Bible, I say a short prayer asking God to please help me understand His word, and also the message He has for ME in His word. What I’m finding is that dots are connecting as I read the Scripture in a way that suggests to me that it’s more than me simply ‘figuring stuff out’, it’s divine intervention. As if God is saying ‘you are now ready to learn this…’
It almost makes me wonder if this would apply to every area of my life? What if God is waiting to give me all the wisdom I need to reach my full potential as a person, as a Christian, as a brother, as a son? He’s simply waiting on me to show Him that I am ready to receive the gifts He wants to give me? Almost like a father who can’t wait to buy a car for his son and share in the joy of working on it together with his son. But he knows he can’t do that until the son shows him that he’s learned how to drive the car properly, and is ready to be a responsible car owner.
What if God has endless gifts that He is ready to give us, as soon as we show Him that we are ready to receive them? That’s the thought I am carrying as I read scripture, I ask for the wisdom to understand what I am reading, and also that I will know how to apply what I learn in the way that God desires. So that I can continue to grow, and be worthy of additional gifts.
