Help me understand the meaning of your commandments…Keep me from lying to myself; give me the privilege of knowing your instructions. – Psalms 119: 27; 29

When I was an elementary school teacher, one of my favorite subjects to teach was reading.

It was definitely challenging though.

Because so many of my students knew how to articulate words they saw on a page, yet their reading comprehension was low.

But when my struggling students were finally able to grasp the meaning of the stories they read, it made my heart leap!

And I imagine that’s how God feels when we finally grasp a biblical concept after missing the point for years.

The bible is truly an inexhaustible book; there’s just so much to take in.

So it’s not surprising that someone could have a sudden epiphany about a verse they’ve seen and read for over 20 years.

That’s why when we read, we have to ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and hearts so that we may fully absorb the nutrients of the Word into our lives sooner rather than later.

We have to realize that there’s a big difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge when it comes to understanding Scripture.

With head knowledge, we can memorize all the books of the bible, quote scripture, understand historical and cultural context, know geography, accurately pronounce biblical names, understand Hebrew, etc.

But in our impressive intellectual understanding of the Bible, we can still be no better than the child who can perfectly articulate every word of a short story, yet can’t explain or fathom what he just read.

It’s possible to know everything there is to know about the Bible and not actually live out what we know on a daily basis.

But when we strive towards heart knowledge, we move closer and closer to truly comprehending the height, width, depth, and length of Christ’s love (Ephesians 3:18).

We will never fully understand just how big God’s love is, but when our goal is heart knowledge, the Word gets into our bloodstream and travels with us wherever we go.

It’s in our mannerisms, our smiles, and fundamentally in the way we function and interact with others from day to day.

It causes us to flavor our words with salt when we speak to others and demonstrate genuine compassion, love, forgiveness, and humility with everyone we meet.

Heart knowledge is what we must constantly be after, because when we pursue head knowledge only, we deceive ourselves, and our souls never come close to understanding any portion of the immeasurable love of Christ.

That’s why we must submit ourselves completely to God daily and ask Him to fill us with His divine understanding.

Be blessed,

Alexia

Prayer: God, if my heart is not pleasing to you, I pray that you remove my stubborn heart of stone and replace it with a loving heart of flesh. Open my mind, spirit, heart, and soul so I may understand the meaning of your Word and make it a natural part of my life. Help me to be a doer of your Word, and not just a passive hearer. Keep me from lying to myself and deceiving myself in hypocrisy. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.