I took one required geography course in college and nearly failed the test on the continent of Africa because the atlas I used to study was out of date. Things change quickly in some parts of the world and by the time this particular volume came to print, it was probably already obsolete. There are a million dangers lurking on the world wide web but one beauty of modern technology is the ability to keep information current. For instance, even as my daughter was driving into town recently, I was able to search the event that was causing the traffic delays on her regular route. It was already being reported on in real time.
As a child in the 1970s, my family owned a partial set of encyclopedias and a dictionary. These hard bound volumes were bulky and hardly exhaustive. Also they were updated annually. No one could afford to replace their prized collection this regularly, nor did anyone have the shelf space. School and public libraries had computers by the time I entered high school but they were far too complicated to be helpful. I worked on the yearbook and newspaper staff in both high school and college and I remember learning to form up a page layout on a tiny screen that curved at the edges. The pixels were visible to the naked eye and the cut and paste feature took almost as long as literally cutting and pasting. At university, hard drives took up entire floors of buildings. Now we hold far superior devices in the palm of our hands. We’ve come a long way fairly quickly in the last few decades, maybe a little too quickly.
Book smarts are great. Doing research has never been easier. Being in the know, up to date on the latest and greatest is nice for pithy comebacks and making small talk but knowledge isn’t everything. You and I can have all the right information and still make poor choices. We are the most well informed generation to date. Information overload characterizes our lives. At the touch of a button on a device in the palm of our hands, even small children can access almost anything (unless they first lock out your device pressing buttons) but are we wiser? Are we making use of the knowledge at our fingertips or are we lazier, knowing it’s immediately available should we need it, but we usually never do.
How many phone numbers or addresses do you know off the cuff? Like me, do you regularly search scripture references to find verses you know from the Bible? It was comical to watch my grandmother then my mother search for names, listing off every child or grandchild to get to the one standing in front of her until I started doing the same thing. Our brains are the most complex supercomputers on the planet, the basis for and goal of all artificial intelligence, yet we use so small a percentage of our actual potential. One reason is our sheer reliance on ourselves. There is a dimension to our minds that goes untapped until, through faith in Jesus, we allow the Holy Spirit unimpeded access.
“I’ve yet to learn the wisdom that comes from the full and intimate knowledge of you, the Holy One.”
Proverbs 30:3 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/pro.30.3.TPT
“For our spiritual wealth is in him, like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered—heaven’s wisdom and endless riches of revelation knowledge.
I want you to know this so that no one will come and lead you into error through their persuasive arguments and clever words.”
Colossians 2:3-4 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/col.2.3-4.TPT
“We cross the threshold of true knowledge when we live in obedient devotion to God.
Stubborn know-it-alls will never stop to do this, for they scorn true wisdom and knowledge.”
Proverbs 1:7 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/pro.1.7.TPT
“Throughout human history the fingerprints of God were upon them, yet they refused to honor him as God or even be thankful for his kindness.
Instead, they entertained corrupt and foolish thoughts about what God was like.
This left them with nothing but misguided hearts, steeped in moral darkness.
Although claiming to be wise, they were in fact shallow fools. For only a fool would trade the unfading splendor of the immortal God to worship the fading image of other humans, idols made to look like people, animals, birds, and even creeping reptiles!
This is why God lifted off his restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires.
They were given over to moral depravity, dishonoring their bodies by sexual perversion among themselves— all because they traded the truth of God for a lie.
They worshiped and served the things God made rather than the God who made all things—glory and praises to him forever and ever! Amen!
For this reason God gave them over to their own disgraceful and vile passions.
And because they thought it was worthless to embrace the true knowledge of God, God gave them over to a worthless mind-set, to break all rules of proper conduct.
Although they are fully aware of God’s laws and proper order, and knowing that those who do all of these things deserve to die, yet they still go headlong into darkness, encouraging others to do the same and applauding them when they do!”
Romans 1:21-32 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/rom.1.21-32.TPT
“So with the wisdom given to me from the Lord I say: You should not live like the unbelievers around you who walk in their empty delusions.
Their corrupted logic has been clouded because their hearts are so far from God—their blinded understanding and deep-seated moral darkness keeps them from the true knowledge of God.
Because of spiritual apathy, they surrender their lives to lewdness, impurity, and sexual obsession.
But this is not the way of life that Christ has unfolded within you.
If you have really experienced the Anointed One, and heard his truth, it will be seen in your life; for we know that the ultimate reality is embodied in Jesus!
And he has taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, the old self-life, which was corrupted by sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions.
Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you. And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life and live in union with him!
For God has re-created you all over again in his perfect righteousness, and you now belong to him in the realm of true holiness.”
Ephesians 4:17-24 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/eph.4.17-24.TPT
“Who could ever wrap their minds around the riches of God, the depth of his wisdom, and the marvel of his perfect knowledge?
Who could ever explain the wonder of his decisions or search out the mysterious way he carries out his plans?
For who has discovered how the Lord thinks or is wise enough to be the one to advise him in his plans?
Or: “Who has ever first given something to God that obligates God to owe him something in return?”
For out of him, the sustainer of everything, came everything, and now everything finds fulfillment in him.
May all praise and honor be given to him forever! Amen!”
Romans 11:33-36 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/rom.11.33-36.TPT
Jesus was approached by a wealthy young nobleman asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. That he was young and wealthy surely meant he was living on an inheritance and a sizable one at that. His father and maybe his father’s fathers had worked to build up a fortune to pass on to their sons. This young man claims to have honored his father all of his life, along with obeying all of the commandments of God, at least those mentioned by Jesus in His reply. “One thing you still lack,” Jesus confided. I’m imagining the young ruler leaning in, desperate to know what he had overlooked. He had a good eye. He had not squandered the wealth of his fathers. He could only better himself by hearing the Teacher. (Matthew 19, Mark 10, Luke 18) As one thoughtful person summed up so brilliantly:
He went to the…
Right Person
At the…
Right Time
With the…
Right Question
And got the…
Right Answer
But he made the…
Wrong Decision
“These words devastated the rich leader, for he was extremely wealthy.”
Luke 18:23 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/luk.18.23.TPT
He was absolutely right about one thing. Eternal life is inherited but not in the way he imagined. We inherit God’s kingdom by faith in His one and only Son, Jesus. He paid the ultimate price to redeem what was lost. We were the pinnacle of God’s creation, walking in intimate fellowship with Him, until the father of lies convinced us to betray our true Heavenly Father. Like the prodigal, we tried to satisfy ourselves with every empty thing until we were completely spent, but nothing and no one could undo the damage we’ve done- no one that is but Jesus. He is the first among many brothers and sisters to taste eternal life.
“He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned:
that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free.
Eventually the news is going to get out.
This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.”
1 Timothy 2:4-7 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/1ti.2.4-7.MSG
“I continue to pray for your love to grow and increase beyond measure, bringing you into the rich revelation of spiritual insight in all things.
This will enable you to choose the most excellent way of all —becoming pure and without offense until the unveiling of Christ.
And you will be filled completely with the fruits of righteousness that are found in Jesus, the Anointed One—bringing great praise and glory to God!”
Philippians 1:9-11 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/php.1.9-11.TPT
“May grace and perfect peace cascade over you as you live in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Everything we could ever need for life and godliness has already been deposited in us by his divine power.
For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of knowing him who has called us by name and invited us to come to him through a glorious manifestation of his goodness.”
2 Peter 1:2-3 TPT
A Fitting Reply 