“I thank my God, making mention of thee in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast towards the Lord Jesus, and towards all the saints; that the communication of your faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus” – Philemon 1:4-6
LIGHT FOR NOW: The effectiveness of the Christian walk is in knowledge.
In our opening text or better still key text, we have established that the love walk which is in the faith walk is effective in knowledge. The faith walk of the believer is better known as his Christian life. So Paul was saying that the effectiveness of the Christian is in knowledge. The word “effectual” here is the Greek word “energes” which implies active, effective, operative. In other words, the Christian life cannot be effective outside knowledge. The Christian life cannot be active outside knowledge. The Christian life cannot be operative outside knowledge. So a man who aims to have an effective and active Christian life outside the knowledge of God’s word is actually on a journey that will end him up in identity crisis. Your attempt to have an active Christian life outside the knowledge of God’s word will result in futility. Don’t forget:
- It is only in the word that you can best be defined.
- It is only in the word that you can best be explained.
- It is only in the word that you can best be known.
- It is only in the word that you can best be unveiled.
In other words, the believer doesn’t have any other identity elsewhere outside the word. The knowledge of God’s word should therefore not be an option to the believer, it should be a must. This is because how much of Christ you know in the word is how much of yourself you know in Christ in the word. So the emphasis on Paul’s prayer in our key text was on knowledge. Outside the knowledge of God’s word, identity crisis will be the end product. So knowing the written word is not just for knowing sake, it is for your own good. There is freedom in knowledge, there is bondage in ignorance. Do you choose to be free from identity crisis or you’ve chosen to be held in bondage by identity crisis. If you have chosen to be free from identity crisis, then go for knowledge.
INSTRUCTION: Go for knowledge.
PRAYER: I am knowledge driven like never before, in Jesus Name, Amen.
QUOTE: The antidote for ignorance is knowledge.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: EPHESIANS CHAPTER 1; EVENING: COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 1