2 Peter 3:18a “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Growing in faith and maturity as a Christian involves the gaining of knowledge. However, not all knowledge leads to an increased faith.  The knowledge that leads to growing in our faith is the knowledge of who Jesus Christ is, why he came and died, and those things that he felt important enough to share with us, through his Holy Word. You can have a knowledge of Shakespeare, but it will only help you if you’re a literature teacher or studying Elizabethan poetry and plays. It is not practical but specific knowledge. Knowing who Jesus is serves a practical purpose because it assures us that what he taught was true and completely trustworthy. Knowledge of Jesus purpose in coming and dying is practical because without first experiencing salvation there is no ‘growing’ in Christ. Finally, Jesus came to give us simple and practical ways to follow the law, simplifying them down to just two commandments. He taught in parables and stories, reaching to even the lowest levels of society. He brought the things of God down to the level of man.

Pray: Lord God, you sent your Son to be our Rabbi, our teacher. No one else could possible teach us the things of you in such a way that we could not only hope to understand but, more importantly, hope to follow. Father, grow me in a simple and practical knowledge of your Son. Help me to understand the depth of his teachings and the great love with which you reached out to us through him. Grow my knowledge, Lord, that my faith my grow also – in Jesus holy name I ask – Amen