Comprehension part 1
I believe in repetition as a very effective way to learn something. That's one of the reasons I read the Bible from cover to cover once a year. I'm building that foundation. So that when someone brings new light--new revelation--to a verse, or passage, I have a general knowledge of what they're talking about... even as they peel another layer off of the onion. But, as I always say, there's a difference between knowing something... and KNOWING something. There's a difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. Between knowing... and understanding. Or, as we're about to see, comprehending. We touched on this passage in the last Rant series but I really want to dig into it here. Ephesians 3:17-19, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." First things first: If you're not rooted and grounded in love you can't comprehend how big love is. It seems too good to be true. Something that you have to earn. Something that you're not good enough to have right now, but maybe someday, if you jump through all the right hoops, you might be able to have someday. That's a lie though. That's the first lie that was ever told. "If you eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you'll be like God." "You have to do in order to be." NOT TRUE. But it was easily swallowed. Because to the carnal mind it made perfect sense. "Of course I'm not good enough. But if I gain enought knowledge about good and evil I can do good, stop doing evil and become good enough!" Again: WRONG! The biggest problem with the serpent's lie is that he told us to do something in order to be like God... when we were already created in His image. That's why what Jesus did on the cross--CONFORMING us to His image--was so important. He showed us the truth in order to defeat the lie. And look at this: The love of Christ is known with a knowledge that passes knowledge. It's not knowledge of good and evil. It's not head knowledge. It's heart knowledge. It's knowledge of love. Knowing the truth and the truth that we know setting us free and making us free. Hebrews 5:14 speaks of discerning BOTH good and evil. Understanding that they are both on the same tree. And understanding that we are not to eat from that tree at all. There's a more excellent way. An entirely different tree. The Tree of Life. The vine, that we are connected to, that produces the fruit of the Spirit--which is love. When the Bible says, "God is love," the word love means "love feast." Because you are what you eat. Repetition is good. But there's something deeper. Revelation. The Bible is a living Word because it can speak to us. A verse you've read 100 times can suddenly mean something you never even thought of before. Because all of a sudden you COMPREHEND a verse that you KNEW. All of a sudden the scales fall from your eyes and you see something new. (And by something new I mean new to you, because love is the beginning. It is the Word we heard from the beginning. We just didn't quite comprehend what we were hearing.) Knowledge can only pass knowledge when it goes past the head into the heart. When we let the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us!