Have all the knowledge

I met many ministries and lay people who had great knowledge of the Bible. Some even were exegetes and theologians. I met people who had a knowledge of the Word of God that might almost have been believed to be infinite, but most of them did not especially manifest the love of God.

"Vanity of vanities," says Ecclesiastes, "all is vanity. Besides the fact that Ecclesiastes was a wise man, he again taught science to the people, and he examined, probed, and ordered a great number of sentences. Ecclesiastes endeavored to find pleasant words ; and what has been written with righteousness are words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads ; and, collected in a collection, they are like nails planted, given by a single master. For the rest, my son, draws instruction from these things ; we would not finish, if we wanted to make a lot of books, and a lot of study is a fatigue for the body" (Ecclesiastes 12: 8-12).

I once met a theologian. He spent his time in a large library. He really reminded me of an old grimoire from a dusty library in an old castle (but he certainly worked with all his heart for the Lord, just the impression I had when I saw him). Ecclesiastes understood that knowledge was limited, and that without the fear of God, all was vanity.

When I am speaking of the Lord, the purpose is not to expose all my biblical knowledge. A revivalist said that he took a single verse that applied to the life of his listener, and that he penetrated this verse until his conscience was fulfilled. It does not take many words for a man's heart to open. It takes a lot of love.

Jeremy Sourdril