KNOWING IT, WITHOUT KNOWING HIM

          The scribes and Pharisees of the first-century were the caretakers of the Holy Scriptures.  Although they immersed themselves in the sacred writings, many of them failed to recognize Jesus (Jn.5:46-47).  Concerning them, Jesus warned:  all that they tell you do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds (Mt.23:3).  God never intended for the Word (The Bible) to be an end in itself.  The written word was a means to a greater end - - that greater end being to instruct and encourage us in the lifelong pursuit of being conformed to the image of God’s Son (Rom.8:29).  God forbid that we should know the word, but yet fail to speak and act in keeping with the words and deeds of The Living Word.  This remains one of the great challenges for Christians of the twenty-first century.

          Yes, we are to be people of The Book.  We must let the word of Christ richly dwell within us (Col.3:16).  But God’s word must be allowed to shape us so that we come to have the mind of Christ (1Cor.2:16) and the heart of Jesus (Philp.2:5).  Our studies in the word will be in vain if we do not have “THE FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST” (2Cor.2:15).  We are not just caretakers of the word, we are to be the light of the world (Mt.5:14).  More than being just repositories of the oracles of God, we are called to be representatives of Jesus Christ (2Cor.5:20).  It is not enough to know the Word, we must intimately know and imitate Jesus, The Living Word.  How sad to think that others could be “turned off” by our failure to possess the heart of Jesus in spite of our knowledge of the Scriptures.  On the other hand, how wonderful and humbling to contemplate that others may come to Christ, not just because we taught them a few Scriptures (which remains vitally important), but because they were DRAWN TO THE LORD BY SEEING CHRIST IN US.

                                                  Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ