Jesus Christ died for our freedom. Therefore many assume that this can be a life without struggles, without tribulations and without persecution, if we only know how to apply this freedom. But that couldn’t be further from the Truth. At the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Messiah and Savior, a growth process starts. At that point we’re still very much our old ‘men’. And we all know that Jesus wants us to change according to His image and for His glory. The growth process starts, whether we’re aware or not. But what happens on that road? And why? Basically we can say that the growth process consists of the following: 

1. Knowledge of the Word of God
2. Insight and Wisdom
3. Character and Authority
4. Testing & Tribulation

Knowledge of the Word of God

It all starts with the Word of God. The knowledge of the Truth. Nothing happens without the Word. There will be no insight, no wisdom, no authority and no character without the knowledge of the Word. But there will always be testing and tribulations. But the knowledge of the Word cannot be skipped. Without knowledge of the Word, it is trivially easy for the enemy to deceive us and to lead us to our own destruction. The prophet Isaiah describes a pretty graphical image of this.

We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places.
Isaiah 59:9-10

Through the mouth of Hosea, the Lord even stated it much clearer.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6

The knowledge of God’s Word, the knowledge of the Truth, is where everything starts. Although it is knowledge in the natural world, in the spiritual world it is this knowledge that starts to shine the Light of God.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105

The Word of God shines the Light of God on us. It shows us the unpleasant but necessary points in our lives that need to change. But that’s how far pure knowledge goes. We need more than just knowledge. With just the knowledge, we can still be deceived. In fact we can know the Bible by memory, but all we have then is knowledge. Every piece of knowledge can be interpreted in many different ways, which happens in so many Churches and denominations. However, the Word of God was never meant for free human interpretation. With knowledge we know the what, but we don’t know the why. What we need is the insight, so that we are able to understand it. We need the insight to know the heart behind the Word. Once we have the insight, we need the wisdom to know how to use it. But all of that never happens without the knowledge of the Word of God. So it is crucial for us to know what God wants to say to us by His Word, the Bible.

Prayer:

Lord, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Help me to appreciate your Word and everything You want to teach me through it. Help me to have a humble and open heart for whatever You want to teach me. Thank You for everything You offer through Your Word.