Jesus expects you to be a reader
"....Have you not read....?" (Matt 12:3,5, Matt 19:4, Matt 22:31; Mark 12:26)
Five times in the Gospels, Jesus asked the above question. By this, He communicates His expectation for us to be readers, to be knowledgeable. Every time Jesus asked the question, He was basically saying 'you should have read that...' or 'you are supposed to know that.....'. This shows the significance of knowledge and the indispensability of reading in the Kingdom.
Moreover, Hosea 4:6 says "My people perish for lack of knowledge". So ignorance can make God's people perish; even God's people are not immune to the destructive nature of ignorance. Some have said and I quote "the day you stop learning, you start dying". This can be inferred from Hos 4:6. Friends, knowledge will keep you 'alive or living'; it will give you life and make you live longer (Pro 3:2, Psa 119:25). Knowledge here, pertains to the knowledge of God's word. God doesn't want us to perish, and that is why He expects us to read. That is also one of the reasons He gave us the Holy Spirit - our Teacher.
Furthermore, Paul emphasized the need to study to Timothy in 2 Tim 2:15 (KJV) when he said "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." This scripture reveals that knowledge will secure your approval before God and of course before men too. Paul told Timothy, if you don't want to be put to shame, then study. It is important to note that in all the 5 reference scriptures above, Jesus was either talking to the Pharisees or Sadducees. They were not the only ones who asked Him questions during His ministry, His disciples and others did severally but Jesus never began His answer to them with the question. I believe He did so only with the Pharisees and Sadducees because they were people who thought and acted as if they had knowledge even though they didn't or had an inadequate knowledge at best. And so all their questions to Jesus were not borne out of a genuine quest to gain knowledge but to 'test' Jesus. The point is, if you say you know then you've got to justify it. The Pharisees and Sadducees always came up short with their knowledge. Friends, Ignorance will put you to shame; ignorance will embarrass you; the devil will take advantage of your ignorance and deceive you and when He succeeds in deceiving you, he can destroy you. All these can be avoided if you study. The benefits of reading and knowledge are diverse and this post won't be able to highlight them all.
Finally brethren, like it's often said "readers are leaders". Besides the fact that Jesus expects you to be a reader so you won't perish, He also expects you to read so you can lead, yourself first, and then others. Be a reader; there's no better place to start than with the Word of God. But beyond reading the Bible, read other books and materials. Read for knowledge sake, read for personal growth and development. The more knowledgeable you become, the better and the more imperishable or indestructible you become. God bless you real good.
Moreover, Hosea 4:6 says "My people perish for lack of knowledge". So ignorance can make God's people perish; even God's people are not immune to the destructive nature of ignorance. Some have said and I quote "the day you stop learning, you start dying". This can be inferred from Hos 4:6. Friends, knowledge will keep you 'alive or living'; it will give you life and make you live longer (Pro 3:2, Psa 119:25). Knowledge here, pertains to the knowledge of God's word. God doesn't want us to perish, and that is why He expects us to read. That is also one of the reasons He gave us the Holy Spirit - our Teacher.
Furthermore, Paul emphasized the need to study to Timothy in 2 Tim 2:15 (KJV) when he said "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." This scripture reveals that knowledge will secure your approval before God and of course before men too. Paul told Timothy, if you don't want to be put to shame, then study. It is important to note that in all the 5 reference scriptures above, Jesus was either talking to the Pharisees or Sadducees. They were not the only ones who asked Him questions during His ministry, His disciples and others did severally but Jesus never began His answer to them with the question. I believe He did so only with the Pharisees and Sadducees because they were people who thought and acted as if they had knowledge even though they didn't or had an inadequate knowledge at best. And so all their questions to Jesus were not borne out of a genuine quest to gain knowledge but to 'test' Jesus. The point is, if you say you know then you've got to justify it. The Pharisees and Sadducees always came up short with their knowledge. Friends, Ignorance will put you to shame; ignorance will embarrass you; the devil will take advantage of your ignorance and deceive you and when He succeeds in deceiving you, he can destroy you. All these can be avoided if you study. The benefits of reading and knowledge are diverse and this post won't be able to highlight them all.
Finally brethren, like it's often said "readers are leaders". Besides the fact that Jesus expects you to be a reader so you won't perish, He also expects you to read so you can lead, yourself first, and then others. Be a reader; there's no better place to start than with the Word of God. But beyond reading the Bible, read other books and materials. Read for knowledge sake, read for personal growth and development. The more knowledgeable you become, the better and the more imperishable or indestructible you become. God bless you real good.
Comments