What's the Big Deal About Knowing God?

If you've ever bought your kids a LEGO set (or received one for yourself) you've probably wondered, "how are all these little pieces going to turn into THAT?"

You pull out the instruction book (it was thicker than you thought), dump out package number one onto a tray (so you don't lose the pieces), and find your child who's actually playing with a different Christmas gift now anyway (you bought this for them...right??).

Slowly, all those little pieces start forming the foundation and gradually it starts to take shape. If your child is younger, they may have already abandoned the project and returned to playing again with the other toy, but as they get older, they begin to do more of the building themselves.

So, here's how our journey to knowing God is similar.

As we engage in a practice of reading the Bible, we become familiar with God's Words and works. These are the pieces in the package we start connecting together as we learn more of God's character and the Gospel.

This, friend, is what theology is.

It's an act of discipline that grows desire.

It's an act of love that responds from His.

It's an act of the Spirit who delights to show us.

God has given us the picture on the box and the pieces to build it inside. He has revealed Himself to us in His Word and given us practices (the instruction booklet) to know and experience Him. But if we never take the pieces out of the box, if we never open it up and put them on a tray, we're not going to see anything take shape, our understanding of Him will stay scattered in a pile.

But, I've been in the place before looking at the box of LEGO and you know you just don't have time to put it together today, so you wait. Or you don't have a place to set them up just yet, you don't want to lose any pieces, so you wait until you're more organized.

Walking with the Lord doesn't have to be organized, and it surely doesn't get done all in one day. It's the faithful journey taking one step closer, drawing near to Him with honesty and perseverance.

If you tend to think that theology belongs in an office, of a pastor or professor, knowing God is the gift He's given every believer through His Word. So if you love and follow Jesus, theology is for you.

Lest you think it's not important or relevant - maybe you don't teach Sunday school or lead bible studies. But, what do you do? Do you parent your children? Do you bake cookies for your neighbours? Do you serve in other ways in your local church community? Because if you do, your theology - what you believe about God - informs everything you do.

This is why it's important. That's why you don't have to be afraid.

My encouragement is, don't let the world theology scare you. It simply means knowing God. And John reminds us in his Gospel that, "these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31).

So, if you want to check out a beginners book on how and why to study theology, "A Little Book for New Theologians" is a good place to start! It's 10 short chapters to give you the basics and help lead you on toward faithfully knowing God.

Quick Stats

# of pages: 126 pages

Level of Difficulty: Easy

My Rating: 5 stars