WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW?

Christians are always looking for something new. We listen to another sermon, start another Bible study, follow another teacher, or search for another explanation of a difficult verse. There is nothing wrong with learning. We should want to understand Scripture better and grow in our knowledge of God.

But sometimes our problem is not that we need to learn something new. Sometimes we have not obeyed what we already know.

Most believers already know that we should forgive, pray, control our tongue, turn away from sin, love our neighbor, tell the truth, and put Christ first. We may not understand every difficult passage in the Bible, but there are many things God has already made very clear.

The question is not always, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Sometimes the answer is already sitting in an open Bible.

Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

Notice that Jesus connects love with obedience. Knowing what He said is important, but knowing is not the same as doing.

Knowledge has its place. We should study Scripture carefully. We should ask questions and grow in our understanding. But knowledge without obedience can become another hiding place. We can spend so much time studying what God says that we avoid doing what God says.

James warned about that very thing:

“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22).

That is a sobering warning. A person can hear truth, agree with truth, discuss truth, and even teach truth while refusing to live by it. James says that kind of person can deceive himself.

Sometimes we keep asking God for more direction when He has already given us enough direction to keep us busy for a long time.

Maybe we do not need another sermon about forgiveness. Maybe there is someone we need to forgive.

Maybe we do not need another lesson on prayer. Maybe we need to pray.

Maybe we do not need another study about controlling the tongue. Maybe we need to stop saying something we already know we should not be saying.

Maybe we do not need God to reveal something new. Maybe we need to obey what He has already revealed.

Before asking God to show you the next thing, it might be worth asking a different question:

What has God already shown me that I have not done?

That question may take us farther spiritually than another hundred sermons.

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“What I write is not for everyone, but what I write is meant for someone.” – Dean Butler

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