2 Peter 1: 5
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge…”
Peter is beginning a list of traits that we should be acquiring, when we are “all in”. Today’s topic is knowledge. We are to be knowledgable in our faith. We should get beyond faith 101. It’s ok to be their when new. We need to progress beyond “Faith for Dummies”.
The ultimate source for this knowledge is the bible. We should be reading it often. This is a discipline that the christian is to have, frequent bible reading. It’s compared to being able to feed oneself.
We also grow in our faith knowledge by being in church. Part of church is to have bible teaching. Some churches teach topics, that’s often the weekend message. Churches also have a “through the week” message. This is often where they go through a book of the bible. This is important, as one learn the overall message as well as smaller topics within a book. Context is learned. Receiving teaching helps the individual in personal reading and study.
Starting small is fine. Some begin in “read the bible in a year” programs in which five chapters a day are to be read. This tends to be overwhelming. Begin in proverbs and read a chapter a day. The gospels are also a good starting point. The first five books of the bible (not Leviticus) are also good.
Proverbs 18:15 speaks of seeking knowledge. The NLT version says it like this, “Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge.” That’s a good way to look at it, being “ready to learn”.
God will bless our reading. He tends to highlight things we’ve read as we go through our days. This is the primary way He speaks to us.
Hebrews 5:14 says that as we are in the bible it helps us train our senses to discern good from evil. These are our spiritual senses. We get a vibe, a sense or a hunch about things. I’ve heard it said that bank tellers are trained to spot counterfeits not by studying fakes, but by constant exposure to real bills. They can sense the phony. So, by our acquiring bible knowledge, we begin to sense error.
Lord, thank You for the bible. Help us to be in it often. Help us to know You and Your ways better by it.