Monday, May 14, 2012

"What You Don't Know Can't Hurt You" May Not Be True, Physically or Spiritually

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
(II Peter 3:18).

I have intolerances to many things so I have started examining food labels carefully.  Recently I was going to make something for company and discovered an ingredient that was not good for me.  I was telling my mother how hard it is to find things that I can eat.   She laughingly said maybe I should not check the ingredients and what I don’t know won’t hurt me.  She wasn’t serious of course, but it made me stop and think about that expression in relation to my physical and spiritual health.

There are times when what I don’t know won’t hurt me, but when it comes to food, that is not the case for me.  Checking labels on everything I buy requires time.  Not buying and eating certain foods requires self-discipline.  When I do these things though, I feel much better.

I can apply this concept to my relationship with God as well.  Of course there are aspects of God that my finite mind can’t comprehend, but not learning and growing in my knowledge of Him will affect me negatively.  If I don’t take time to study God’s character and attributes I will experience unnecessary doubt and fear, because I will not be viewing my problems in the light of His goodness, mercy, and sovereignty.  If I don’t learn more of Jesus and the way He lived, I will not grow in becoming more like Him.  If I don’t practice self-discipline spending time with God and making godly choices, I won’t have the knowledge and strength to fight my battles. 

What I don’t know can hurt me.  Conversely, what I do know can help me, and spiritually I can never know enough about God.  I will have all eternity to keep learning, but I can get a good start now.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me the ability to learn and grow. Thank you for Your Word and the wealth of other Christian resources available to teach me more about You.  Give me the wisdom and self-discipline to keep growing and to make wise choices for my physical and spiritual health.  Amen

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