By Very Nathaniel Garang Aduotdit
“There is gold and a multitude of jewels, but knowledgeable lips are a rare treasure.”
In defining the real trouble that man has, leading to his suffering and pain; Hosea the Prophet came to this all-rounded conclusion he says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as My priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons.” (Hosea 4:6) HCSB. According to Prophet Hosea God’s people are not destroyed due to the devil or Satan being strong or poverty, etc. I believe this is why God promises in the later days He will give His people shepherds who possess knowledge and understanding (Jere. 3:15). The world is groping for answers because there is a very huge leadership gap! When I talk about leadership I mean, Leaders who not only have good grammar expression or academic prowess, but leaders who know times and seasons, leaders who can understand the will and Purpose of God in a particular season.
The Lord was so upset with His people Israel and He expressed disappointment through Prophet Isaiah and He says, “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding trough, but Israel does not know; my people do not understand.” (Isaiah 1:3) HCSB.
So, what does it mean to know God? To know God basically means four things;
- To know God is a gift of God, this gift one can only receive by faith in the Son of God! (John 6:37, 44) HCSB says, “Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.
- Knowing God is an inward experience of Fellowship with God. Knowing God might appear external in some way, but primarily it’s an inward intimacy with God, which eventually affects you in all areas of your life! God sees and mainly deals with human heart. Every interpretation of your walk with God happens in your heart. It’s why King Solomon says in (Proverbs 4:23, 26) NKJV, “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life…..Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.” It’s how God teaches and walks with man! “Because the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.” (Prov. 20:27)
- We know God through the Holy Spirit. Not through academia, I have come across theologians and Academicians, who really carry God’s box! They know a lot about God, but they actually don’t know Him. If you need to know God, become a good friend of the Holy Spirit. Because Knowing God is by revelation, not intellectualism. Holy Spirit reveal to us and connects us to both Jesus and the Father! Paul told the Ephesians, that the death of Jesus opened to us an access to the Father; “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” Ephesians 2:18 NKJV.
- We know God through His Word. (2 Peter 1:3) NIV, says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Apart from the Word of God leading us to God, you might stray from God. Because the Word of God is the absoluteness of God’s Person!! Everything flows from the Word.
In conclusion, beyond Academia, beyond religious expression and forms, each of us must come to a place of walking with God. So much so that, when God is Happy you will know, when God is annoyed you will know. Otherwise, we could be advocating for certain empty religious ideals!
God bless you.
Very Nathaniel Garang Aduotdit, opinion writer on biblical reality