During my last year of college, I battled a severe case of senioritis. It seems like the closer I got to graduation, the more difficult it was to find the motivation to stay diligent in my studies. However, since graduating, I have ironically had an insatiable desire for learning. Every day I find more topics that pique my interest and I feel a constant urge to be studying and growing in knowledge.
As Christians, I think God desires us to be students all of our lives. When we look at life through the lens of a student, we begin to see that God is constantly teaching us and revealing more of himself through the world around us. Colossians 3:9-10 speak to God’s desire for us to be renewed and transformed by the knowledge we acquire: “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (NIV).
People often say knowledge is power. It is also said that with great power comes great responsibility. For the past week, I have spent time reconciling these two statements with the truth in Colossians 3 which emphasizes that as we grow in knowledge and become students of His truth surrounding us, we enlarge our capacity to reflect His image. During my contemplation, the Lord led me to another verse that I found to be a beautiful compliment to the truth in Colossians: “Now all of us, with our faces unveiled, reflect the glory of the Lord as if we are mirrors and so we are being transformed into His same image from one radiance of glory to another, just as the Spirit of the Lord accomplishes it” (2 Corinthians 3:18, The Voice). As I pondered all of these words, I found the Lord highlighting two key points regarding His heart for knowledge.
Our knowledge transforms us from the inside out. As it enters our mind, and begins to take root in our hearts, the knowledge we gain is reflected through the change it provokes within us. We become reflections of the knowledge we pursue as the Lord unveils our faces. God desires for the knowledge we acquire to produce an inward growth that is displayed outwardly by the way we live. In this way, our learning is evidenced by the fruit it produces.
Knowledge calls us to action and increases our impact. I believe the infamous words of Maya Angelou capture this thought in a beautiful way: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” As we grow and mature, the Lord is continually teaching us more about himself through His word and His creation surrounding us. Just as we graduated from one grade to the next in school with each year’s curriculum building upon the next, the Lord is also training us up in knowledge. As he takes us from one grade to the next by revealing more of himself through the knowledge we attain, He also provides us with more opportunities to display and practically apply what we have learned.
Our knowledge changes us, transforms us. As we remove the veil of naivety and continue to grow in knowledge, we deepen our capacity to reflect the glory of Christ to the world around us. It is of utmost importance that we seek to nurture this invitation to grow in knowledge, allowing the Lord to reveal more of Himself to us. What are you studying, friends? What is the Lord teaching you?