A verse for me

Today a friend relayed over the phone a verse that he said God specifically gave him for me. That was kind of fun. After we hung up I couldn't wait to look it up:

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ" (Philemon 1:6).

The verse had my name on it alright---I who am brave about sharing my faith in the blogosphere but a wimp in person.

But in addition to that gentle chiding, there was in this verse a profound truth that I have heretofore missed, having a hangover from Greek philosophy that has often blinded me from the meaning of plain texts. In today's reading, God saw fit to remove one more little scale from my eyes.

We generally think that Knowledge precedes Obedience. But here is a word from Scripture that teaches the contrary---that Obedience precedes Knowledge. It says that if I am active in sharing my faith, I will attain full understanding of my blessings in Christ. I can study theology books till the cows come home, and I can graduate from the best seminaries, but full understanding will not come from any of these. It will come from the obedience that even a soda jerk can render---actively sharing one's faith with others.

No wonder the psalmist says:

"I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts" (Psalm 119:99-100).

Isn't it just like God to be so democratic about his offerings? Isn't it marvelous that biblical insight is as accessible to the simple as to the scholarly? Wouldn't it be sad if God had configured the world such that there was a correlation between IQ and knowledge, instead of a correlation between obedience and knowledge?

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