IN BUT OUT

Luke 15:31 NASB2020

And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 

Imagine for a moment that you’re on a trip far from home. No cash, no cards, no friends that you can call on to help out. Instead, you have a bar of gold in your backpack. Many people around you are willing to part with a fortune for your gold. However, you don’t know that what you have is priceless gold, so you continue to languish and starve needlessly.

This is what happens when we do not know all that we have received as part of our inheritance in Christ. The brother of the young man that we have come to know as the prodigal son easily comes to mind to describe this scenario.

He was in the midst of abundance but didn’t know what he had. That’s why he was complaining when his brother was being celebrated. He could have had this celebration every day if he chose to. Everything that their father had was available to him, but he didn’t know and therefore couldn’t access it. Even though he was older, he was still a child in knowledge of what he had available to him and had to live like every other person.

Paul captured this aptly in his letter to the Galatians:

Galatians 4:1-2 NLT

Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 

This is not just about chronological age; it’s about knowledge and capacity. In most cases, a young child is not capable of grasping the importance and extent of their inheritance until they become older and more mature. So, until they attain the required level of knowledge, they have to make do with whatever they are given.

Having the requisite knowledge at the appropriate level is what guarantees a victorious Christian life. A life enjoyed to the full extent that our Father has paid for. This knowledge of our place and position in Christ also increases our awareness of our power to live above sin and different variants of temptation.

This is so important that it features in most of Paul’s prayers for the people that he had preached to:

Ephesians 1:16-17 NLT

I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your KNOWLEDGE of God.

Philippians 1:9-10 NLT

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in KNOWLEDGE and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. 

Colossians 1:9-10 NLT

So, we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete KNOWLEDGE of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honour and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Jesus also taught this to those who were listening to Him while He walked among us. John 8:32 NLT And you will KNOW the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Our permanent freedom from all kinds of oppression lies in the truth that is revealed to us. It is only the truth that we KNOW that will profit us. It’s of no use to us if we don’t KNOW it. 

This depth of revelational KNOWLEDGE will not be thrust into our laps. It’s not a free gift like salvation. We need to make every effort to add it ourselves. 

2 Peter 1:5 GNT 

For this very reason do your best to ADD goodness to your faith; to your goodness add KNOWLEDGE;…

If it was meant to be a free gift, Peter would not ask us to add it by ourselves. It is through diligent seeking that we would enter into the depths of KNOWLEDGE that God has prepared for us. We have been given all it takes; it is ours to search out by the help of the Holy Spirit

picture credit: Eternal Life Embassy