When God is a Stranger
It’s possible to know the Word of God, without knowing the God of the Word. The scribes and Pharisees were a good example. They knew the Scriptures, but the Author was a stranger to them. They were familiar with the “letter,” on the surface, but foreigners to the underlying “Spirit.” They could expound texts, but never experience them. And, worse than all, the Bible, in the life of this type of person, hides the face of God, rather than revealing it.
God never intended for His people to stop short with knowledge of the Bible itself. His intention was that it would lead us on to a full and rich knowledge of HIM. “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord,” says the prophet, Hosea.
To stop with the Word, and not go to its Source, is to never really know the Person of God. “That I may know him...,” should be our motive when reading His Word. Don’t settle for knowing about God; you can know God Himself.
”You may know about God without comprehending Him.”~ (Puritan Saying)
by an Old Disciple