To Encourage You

Colossians 1:9 “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”

If one is filled with the knowledge of God’s will, as Paul prayed for the Colossian church in the verse above, what does such knowledge entail?  Does it mean that they will know as much as God knows?  Surely it can’t mean that, for He knows everything about everything.  Maybe it means knowledge about “spiritual things,” like heaven, and angels, and other things we can’t see. 

Well, in the short verse above, “knowledge of his will” is further defined as having “all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”  So what is “spiritual wisdom” and what is “spiritual understanding” ?  This simply means that its very source and its very nature is “spiritual.”  The source of all things that are truly spiritual is God, who is a Spirit (John 4:24).  And the way God has provided the means of His spiritual knowledge and understanding is by His Word, i.e., the Word Incarnate, Who is His Son (John 1:14), and the Word written down in black and white in the Bible, which God has given to us by inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16). 

So, what does the Bible talk about?  Well, pretty much everything one needs to know to live a life that glorifies God.  We are told that “All Scripture is . . . profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training     in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”  Notice the words “complete” and “equipped for EVERY good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17), i.e., every good work as God views it.  You see, man’s view of things is a natural, non-spiritual view.  God’s view is by virtue of His very nature supernatural and spiritual.  Man has all kinds of ideas about how he should live, how he should relate to others, how he should worship, and the relative value of things in this life.  He also has views about where he came from, where he is going, and why he is here. Those views are as numerous as the people who hold those views, but for the most part, they don’t have much in common with how God sees these things.  And since God is Truth in His very essence, His view of everything in life is the right, i.e., the righteous view.  God has given us these truths in His Word. 

It is in God’s Word that we find spiritual wisdom and spiritual knowledge, i.e., everything that is necessary for us to have the knowledge of God’s will for our lives. This extends from such mundane things as how we eat and drink, to how we become qualified to inherit eternal life.  God has given us His very own thoughts about how we should relate to our parents, children, spouse, friends, enemies, employers, employees, and the government.   He has given us His views on the needy, such as orphans and widows, and told us our obligations to such people.  He has told us where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going, and He has confided in us regarding how we should live in the context of these things.   He has told us about Heaven, Hell, angels, demons, Satan, the church, true religion, and false religion.  And He has given us His view on such other topics as authority, money, dress, love, hate, pride, humility, anger, fear, doubt, peace, and sex, and on and on it goes. 

So, how important are these views. Perhaps you believe “to each his own,” or “I have my truth and you have your truth” or something else along those lines.  Is God’s perspective really better than ours, and if so, how much better? Well, He’s given us His perspective on that issue as well, for He has told us in plain words, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).” 

So, the next time you think you know better about any single issue than the God who made you, perhaps you should look up.  It’s a long way to the heavens, and His thoughts and ways are even higher than that compared to the way any of us think (or all of us together, for that matter).