February 12, 2023

II Peter 3: 18 Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (NIV)

The greatest adventure of all mankind is to discover the mind of God.*

When my husband and I got married, we had known each other for less than two years. There was a boatload of stuff we didn’t know about each other, but we were still married. Our marriage didn’t become null and void just because we learned some previously undisclosed information about each other. What kind of marriage would it be if each of us didn’t know more about the other after 25 years together? And how sad would it be if we didn’t love each other more now than we did at the beginning of our life together?

The same principles apply to the Christian’s walk with the Lord. None of the sermons in the Book of Acts includes a clause about how much you have to know before you can be saved. Based on Peter’s sermon in chapter 2, pretty much all you have to know is that you need to be saved. When he had finished preaching, Peter’s listeners “were cut to the heart” and asked, “What shall we do?” Peter didn’t proceed to tell them what they had to know – he told them what they had to do. (Acts 2: 37-41)

“Grow in grace and knowledge,” Peter writes, thirty years later. Just as a successful marriage requires more than just saying, “I do,” living a Christian life doesn’t stop with repentance and baptism. Seeking knowledge of God leads to knowing God. Knowing God leads to loving him. The more you love him – well, the more you will love him as you grow in grace and knowledge.

It would be sad to settle for a marriage that never grows past the wedding day; sadder still to settle for less than the abundant life we are promised in Jesus. Grow in grace and knowledge – and love him more every day.

A true acquaintance with God produces reverence for Him.*