Do you know the bible or do you know Jesus?

I love this as our first devotional.

So often we will seek knowledge from experts who share expert information, and pastors and theologians are no different.

From listing greek and Hebrew origins and meanings it’s easy to be lost in the jargon and totally miss the message.

Knowing Jesus isn’t being a bible basher, it’s not throwing memory verses or phrases around without understanding their context. To know the context, to know what the ‘whole point of the story is’, yes you do need to know the story, but what’s so much more important is the most important and basic step.

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Knowing Jesus.

Knowing his age, race, even conception story is important, but knowing HIM is the whole point.

And if you’re asking me, it’s the BEST point.

Like why bother arguing if Jesus was 6ft tall or 5’11? 

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Does this really impact how He changed mankind? How He makes you feel in a moment when you feel his love and arms around you?

Often we come to God and get bombarded with facts, and like all of humanity the fear of ‘looking uneducated’ over takes us and instead of listening to worship, praying and seeking a relationship we get stuck of logistical biblical jargon that just isn’t important.

 (unless you want to be a pastor, theologian or impress someone at a connect group you didn’t achieve what Jesus wants of us, which is to seek HIM-not facts on what Israeli weather was like in 120BC) 

There is a time, a place and moment where you may be called into this line of learning and I know for myself I am heading closer to it, but I didn’t begin here. 

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And thats what I urge of you, don’t seek info that won’t bring you closer, seek a relationship first.

In acts chapter 9 we hear of Saul (who later becomes Paul-we love a name change to complicate things) going around with this HUGE chip on his shoulder - it’s known he on a mission to kill the disciples, and anyone associated with believing Jesus is the messiah really

Acts 9:1-2 “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.” 

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See what you don’t know is prior to acts 9 we are told alllll about Paul’s (then Saul’s) intellect, he’s a super smart man with knowledge on all the ‘right’ things. Yet his anger completely blinds him. He has this rage against God and quite literally makes it his life mission to kill anyone who has faith. 

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So knowledge without a relationship, without Gods love being the thing to fully focus on really doesn’t offer you that heart change, that relationship and that closeness. Dont get waylaid on your path by getting stuck on the ‘ but I must know this in order to be a ‘good christian’ 

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Jesus had to quite literally blind him from his knowledge, turn his world upside down and have him spend 3 days resetting his mindset onto what was the true important purpose. He didn’t ‘convince him, or tell him a bunch of translations of greek and Hebrew. He took him right back to basics.

Literally, like sight! 

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“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.””

Acts 9:3-6 NIV

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Now Jesus is pretty cool, He knows when to intervene and change the plot to the story your writing, he will create encounters to offer the option to have that relationship with him