Head Knowledge or Heart Knowledge
Every time I look back at the memories of posts I have made on Facebook 5, 7, 10 years ago, I see all these comments from people I neither recognize nor remember, but people who I was friends with at some point in time….for some reason. I catch myself marveling at not remembering them, nor missing them. Obviously, they did not make an impact on my heart or my life. I don’t even know when they deleted me as “friend.”
I love how God uses situations in our lives to teach us lessons about him and about ourselves. God used this situation to show me that so many people know who he is; they know what he’s about; they believe he exists. They have head knowledge of God, but they have no heart knowledge of him.
I was speaking with an old acquaintance on the phone last night who is in a really bad place emotionally, physically, and most importantly, spiritually. I’m not giving any details beyond that, so he can remain anonymous, but he kept saying, “We were raised in this, we know about God. I believe in God. God has brought me through many things. I’ve lived a life some people would envy.” He kept getting frustrated that I would pause while listening to him and not immediately respond.
It is a bit ironic that one of the memories that Facebook reminded me of today was this one from June 9, 2016 where I shared this:
Today’s verse of the day was
Col 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
But the next verse spoke to my spirit too.
6 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
I try to do this, but sometimes I fail. Sometimes, it is hard to know how we ought to answer people…Particularly when they are “without.” It aggravates people sometimes when I pause before I answer, but sometimes you just need that extra moment….or extra minutes…to pray for guidance.
I cannot express how much I was feeling the need to pause and pray for guidance and for God to use my mouth and give me what He would have me to say. It is always expedient that our speech be always with grace. Our human nature does not want to extend grace (unmerited favor) to others when they have done us wrong, neglected us, or in some other way injured us. We want to hold a grudge, but we are instructed to forgive 70 times 7 a day (Matthew 18:21-22)…basically unlimited forgiveness. That is hard, and our spirit wars with our flesh to do it, but do it we must, if we want to be forgiven by God. Seasoned with salt…too much salt on a food and you cannot eat it, but too little and it is bland and unpalatable. The man I was speaking with last night hung up just after I spoke the first sentence that God laid on my heart. It’s unfortunate, indeed, but that was the choice that he made.
Yes, we were raised in Christianity. Yes, we were given a head knowledge of who God is, what God is about, and enough proof to know that God does exist, but that is all just head knowledge if we have not met Jesus “on the road to Damascus” for ourselves, if we have not walked with him, talked with him, if we do not have a personal relationship with him for ourselves then all the head knowledge in the world is useless. Head knowledge will not get us into heaven.
Without the heart knowledge of who Jesus is, we are like the prodigal son. We could go back home to our father’s house where we know there is plenty to eat, safety, and shelter, and beg him for forgiveness, but instead of turning around and repenting, we decide to make our home with the pigs, eating the food fed to the swine and sleeping in the mud and muck that we have made of our lives.
God made himself very real to me one day about four and half years ago when I was confronted with the choice of continuing to live in the mud and muck that I had made of my life or repenting and returning to my Father’s house. I was under deep conviction for several months. I knew the life I was living was wrong, I had been taught by my parents that it was wrong. I knew the choices I was making were not only hurting me, but also hurting others and God. I had the head knowledge. I felt sorry that I was breaking God’s laws and commandments, but it wasn’t until I stopped the sins, asked for forgiveness of the sins, and completely turned around my life, making different life choices, and most importantly choosing to not commit that sin again, THAT is when I became a Christian.
A Christian is someone who follows Christ … by definition, but being a Christian is more than that. I was not following Christ in word and deed. I was a hypocrite. The difference between having a head knowledge of God and a heart knowledge of God is submission. Since Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, man has rebelled against submitting to God’s commandments…and Adam and Eve only had one commandment to obey: don’t eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We have many commandments that fall under two broad categories: Love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, body, soul, and strength, and Love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).
I had a head knowledge of God. I did not have a heart knowledge because I had never allowed God to come into my heart to be the ruler of my life, as I wrote about last week: I had never allowed God to be the pilot of my life. Believing God exists isn’t enough, the devils believe and tremble, but they are still going to hell (James 2:19). Satan himself knows that God exists, he knows that Jesus is the Son of God, but hell was made for him and his angels (Matthew 25:41). If we go to hell, it’s because –in our rebellion against God– we choose to go; hell was never made for us.
Knowing who God is, what he’s about does not make us a Christian. Just like Saul thought he was doing God’s work by hunting down the Christians, I too, thought I was a Christian and doing God’s work. I knew who God was, I obeyed Him when it was convenient to me, but I NEVER submitted my whole life into His hands. I wouldn’t even submit to my husband, much less God. I talked a good talk, but I did not walk the walk. One thing is certain, being raised in a Christian home does not make me a Christian. Going to church faithfully every week for decades does not make me a Christian. Feeling sorry for my sins does not make me a Christian.
Repentance is a verb, it’s an action. The act of repentance involves not only feeling sorry for the sins you’ve committed, but also stop doing them and make a complete 180*… turning around and going in the opposite direction we were going. Life is too short to walk around with only head knowledge of who Jesus is. You can say you’re sorry all day long, you can long for the riches of your father house, but as long as you keep returning to the pig pen, you are not going to be saved from the life of sin.
Sin is rebellion against God, and the payment for rebelling against God is death, just like God warned Adam in the Garden of Eden before the fall: Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So simple, if only we would choose to do it.
God is a gentleman. He will not force His will on you. You have to submit to His will and His authority. I ask you today, do you submit to God’s authority? Do you submit to His word? Do you submit to his commandments? I know someone is going to pipe in here and say the commandments don’t apply to us anymore; and that Jesus’s birth, death, and resurrection did away with the need for us to obey the commandments.
Nonsense. That’s a pretty little lie, isn’t it? Let me give you some scripture spoken by Jesus that clearly defines the edges of that lie: I did not come to do away with the law or the prophets but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-20). If anything, Jesus narrowed the definitions of the commandments and their application in your life in Matthew 5:27-38. Then he said multiple times: If you love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15-31).
You do not fall unwittingly into sin. There is no accidental sin. It is only when you know to do good and you don’t do it, that action becomes a sin to you (James 4:17). Make no mistake, when you know, and you do it anyway, that sin is a choice. I am not going to speak as to whether a person who sins with intent (a premeditated sinner?) is saved or not, because that would be require me to stand in Jesus’ shoes to judge that person, to weigh them in the balance and find them wanting. That I am not qualified to do. I cannot pass judgement (reward and punishment) on someone but we are told that we will know people by the fruit that they bear.
I used to have a shirt that said, “If you don’t like my peaches, don’t shake my tree.” I still giggle at that expression, but at the same time, isn’t it true? The fruit that you produce, is exactly what will fall when your tree is shaken. The person I spoke with last night did not want to hear the Word of God, but that is the fruit that falls when you shake my tree. Eight years of psychology classes and my heart and mind return to the living Word of God when I am sought for counsel. God says…the Word of God says…that’s the ultimate authority.
The Challenge:
Do you only have head knowledge of God or do you also have heart knowledge? Do you walk with God? Do you talk with God? Do you seek God’s opinion first? I encourage everyone to take careful inventory of the fruit that is on your tree. Yourself, your life, and your relationship or lack of one with Christ. Are your fruits fit to give to The King of Kings? Or are your fruits full of worms? Are your fruits rotten? Are your fruits shiny and delicious and ready to share with the hungry traveler? Or is your tree completely barren? —
Is there anything in this life that feels good enough for the fleeting moment it lasts that is worth losing your soul for eternity? What would you give in exchange for your soul Mark 8:36-37? That is the question we all need to ask ourselves. Money? Fame? Fortune? Drugs? Alcohol? Sex? Murder? Lies? Gossip? Pornography? What is your favorite sin? You can be sure that the devil knows and will try to use it against you. What are you willing to trade your soul for? What sin, what rebellion, what temporary pleasure is worthy of giving up your eternal life?
