On the Road to Pentecost: For Lack of Knowledge

 

Isaiah 11:2, we read, “The life-giving Spirit of God will hover over him…the Spirit that instills knowledge” (MSG) 

Okay, so here’s the scenario:

A man has lost his job. He’s experiencing very hard times and can’t pay his bills, including his mortgage which is now way overdue. He is in a quandary, perplexed by the certain ruin that looms before him. In the meanwhile, he gets news that his great uncle, with whom he was acquainted but rarely visited, has died. However, he’s so caught up with his own dire circumstances that he casually brushes the news aside. He alleviates any modicum of guilt he feels with the fact that he didn’t know his relative that well anyway and decides not to attend his great uncle’s funeral. Furthermore, he’s receiving repeated phone calls from a number he does not know so he doesn’t answer, thinking that it may be calls from the bank or some other debt collector. But what he doesn’t know is that it is the old man's attorney calling since he has left his great nephew, of all people, a fortune. Yep, the nephew lacks that knowledge, so he continues to eke out a paltry existence, trying to get by on morsels, when the truth is, he possesses an abundant inheritance.

 

Hosea 4:6 tells us that our quality of life is destroyed for lack of knowledge, and the rejection of that knowledge. Like the nephew, we are limping through life ignorant of all that we truly possess. It’s so easy to fall into the lap of meagreness when we don’t understand what Christ’s death has wrought and aren’t aware of what we have inherited in Him.

The reasons for this is not knowing, and, knowing but rejecting. Some of us simply do not know of God’s plan for our lives, while some of us know but we choose not to accept His plan.

Beloved, God’s plan for your life is told in the Bible. God’s Word is written there for you. It lets you know who you are and what your inheritance is but if you do not read it or study it how will you know and understand? The biblical know is an intimate knowledge, a “knowing” that’s securely lodged in your heart. It is knowledge instilled by God’s own Spirit within you.

As Christians, we love to declare “knowing the truth will set you free!” but it is always taken out of context. Jesus said that if we would abide in His Word, then we would be His disciples [disciplined followers] and then we would know the truth, and the truth would set us free (see John 8:31-32).

This clearly shows that being simply acquainted with God’s Word is not enough, anyone can do that. The blessing of inheritance comes from the knowledge we gain by living in His Word and acting on His Word.

James 1:22 (CEB),

“You must be doers of the word and not only hearers who mislead themselves.”

Apostle James says that we must do the Word – comply with and adhere to the Word of God. If we aren’t doing that then we're just fooling ourselves; according to the familiar phrase, we’re “playing church”.

If you want to access this inheritance, you must be in genuine relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. God’s love is unconditional but His promised inheritance is not. There’s nothing you can do to warrant your salvation, that’s a gift but you cannot want the gift and not the Giver. You can’t keep rejecting His call and expect to reap the benefits of His abundance. It’s important for you to abide in God’s truth daily because that’s the only way you’d become a co-heir, and once you’re in, through faith in Christ, you’ll receive the power to walk in His footsteps along the pathway of a life of blessing through the guidance of His Holy Spirit.

Too few of us walk in the abundant life because of our own ignorance, not knowing that the inheritance of God is ushered into our lives by faith, when we live in absolute dependence on God.

Beloved, Christ died and left you a vast fortune and for lack of knowledge, you have no idea what you’ve inherited.

As you journey on the road to Pentecost, pray for Spirit-instilled knowledge that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened, so that you will truly know what the hope of His calling is, receive a full revelation of your potential in Christ and have knowledge of what the riches of the glory of His inheritance are in you.

Amen†

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelley Johnson “On the Road to Pentecost: For Lack of Knowledge” © 2017 revisited May 8, 2025