New Information

Colossians 1:9

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.

I love reading the Bible. It fills me with an awe that isn’t associated with any other kind of reading. I know it was inspired by God himself and written by many authors. It’s easy to see the varying writing styles of the authors. The writing of Luke shows details that might be noticed by a physician. Other books of the New Testament are written in a different style, with longer sentences and longer paragraphs. When I read the book of Colossians, I find myself mentally cutting down sentences to their main subject and verb. When I cut out many of the adjectives and prepositional phrases, I’m able to see the point of the verses so much more clearly.

For instance, if you read Colossians 2:2-3 and simplify the two verses into one sentence (cutting back from 48 words to 16 words), it might boil down to this: I want you to know Christ because when he reveals himself, he reveals wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 1:9 (above) tells how to pray for someone. It continues with Col 1:10, “so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.” These two verses help us to understand that God isn’t trying to withhold his wisdom from us. When God fills us with the knowledge of his will, he is giving us a little of his wisdom at a time, so that we aren’t overwhelmed. He does this so that we can bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God. When we grow in the knowledge of God, we are so filled with the glow of joy that we have to share it. When we share it, we are able to bear fruit through our obedient actions.

Several places in the Bible show us that God wants us to seek him out and ask him for new information. We should be asking God for wisdom and understanding. He allows us to communicate with him through the Spirit of God so that we have not just information, but someone to guide us through the information. We can read that in 1 Corinthians 2: 12, “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.”

As you seek God this week, be prepared to receive new information by his Spirit, the one who guides us into all understanding.