Our scripture memory group at church is working our way through 2 Peter 1.  I’ve been thinking through verses 5-9 this week:  “5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.”

In particular, verse 8 has caused me to pause and reconsider the knowledge I possess.  The academic life is about gaining knowledge.  I’m asked to be a content expert in my field of study.  I’m asked to teach others about what I know.  These verses penned by Simon Peter remind me of the knowledge I really need to put in action–the knowledge that truly should guide the way I live.

It’s not that knowledge of any kind is useless in and of itself.  I’m reflecting on what I do with the knowledge I have.  For example, there is a difference between having knowledge about God and knowing God.  Peter is encouraging me to use my knowledge about God to know God.  That can be a difficult pursuit for one who is comfortable taking in knowledge for knowledge sake.  I need to go beyond the words on the page and look to the One who inspired the words.  After all, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).