GREATER UNDERSTANDING

 

GREATER UNDERSTANDING

Mark 4:22-25 “Everything that is now hidden or secret will eventually be brought to light. Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand! And be sure to pay attention to what you hear. The more you do this, the more you will understand---and even more, besides. To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them.” NLT

Everything that God has made known will be known and understood in due time. There are things right now that remain a mystery to us because we don’t have the spiritual minds to comprehend them. Some people have greater understanding on some things than others do, but no one understands all things God has made known to us.

The things that we do need to know we can understand if we would but listen to what God is saying. Listening involves the engagement of our minds as well as hearts. We must discipline ourselves to set aside what we think we know and be open to new understanding as the Holy Spirit leads us through the Word. Sometimes our understanding just needs a little tweaking and sometimes it needs a great overhaul. If we are submissive and want to learn, we will gain understanding.

Of course, understanding can only come through engagement in the Word of God. We must take the time to read it and meditate on it. We must be willing to sacrifice other things in order to spend adequate time in it for the Spirit to speak to us. Devotionals serve a good purpose, but they should never be the only time spent in the Word. They supplement our personal reading time, not supplant it. Far too many of us rely solely on devotionals for our spiritual food. If you do that, it will stunt your spiritual growth.

Understanding results in change of not only thought, but often action. The more we understand what God is saying, the more He will entrust us with greater understanding. If we do not seek greater understanding, we will lose what understanding we do have. This happens because without a growing knowledge base of the Lord we drift away from Him. Often our understanding is swallowed up by false teachings we buy into. And the downward spiral of our souls begins.

With greater understanding comes greater responsibility. God does not make His ways known to us so that we can put it in storage and pull it out when needed. We are to put into practice what we know and also share it with others so that they too can learn the greater truths of the Gospel.