Knowledge That Is Twice Cooked And Well Done

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! (‭Psalm‬ ‭117‬:‭1–2‬ ESV)

According to this text, God is deserving of praise for his enduring faithfulness and steadfast love. These two qualities are the same qualities that can be ours through the new birth. Galatians tells us that two of the fruits of the Spirit are love and faithfulness. At the end of our pilgrimage, we hope to hear from God, “well done good and faithful servant, enter into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” How can we receive this “well done” from the Lord? How can we become people who have steadfast love and faithfulness towards God? Oddly enough, the book of Hosea provides that answer for us.

Hosea 4:1–2 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

The children of Israel had no faithfulness or steadfast love for the Lord. The cause of this was because the people had ”no knowledge of God.” They did not faithfully love God because they did not know God. Presumably if they were to have known who God was, and what he was like; they would have seen his worth and worthiness to be praised.

This leads me to see with fresh eyes this morning the importance of our growth in the knowledge of God. What is your daily Bible intake like? How is your level of growth in the basic Christian doctrines? Do you memorize, journal, write, reflect, ponder, or speak the truths from the Scriptures? Maybe this day would be as good a day as any to determine your growth in the knowledge of the God. One of the reasons God has perfect love and faithfulness toward us is because he has perfect knowledge of us. We can never have a perfect knowledge of God, but we can surely begin to perfect our minds so that our love and faithfulness will grow, and God will not look down upon our houses and see controversy in the inhabitants of our land.

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! (‭Psalm‬ ‭117‬:‭1–2‬ ESV)