LOVE AND KNOWLEDGE

Phil 1:9 - And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.

I think Paul is praying for the Philippians to grow in their love of God. And the more we know God and gain insight into His character, the more we are going to love Him. 

Gaining Knowledge of God can happen through Bible study, worship, preaching, prayer, and Sunday school.

But it can also happen any time and any where. 

I remember distinctly a beautiful moment I had at a gas station as I was filling up my car. Very routine. I was just out of college and living and working in southern California for a few months.

I don't remember where I was going or how long I had been out, but I must have been missing my college friends. I was thinking about my best friend, Mark, in particular.

Mark and I enjoyed a friendship that was solid and deep and tumultuous.  

I say tumultuous because Mark had what you call a “bad temper”. He would admit this himself. Today he is totally mellow – and that’s not just the influence of living in California, it’s God’s work in his life.

Anyway, we were good friends, but even as nice of a person as I am, I would occasionally poke the bear, usually unintentionally. Over the years, I had provoked Mark to cuss me out now and then and to physically push me around. Once Mark had left me a message on a post-it note on the top of my dresser – held in place with his pocket knife.

Anyway, I tell you all that to say that in spite of it all, I still loved Mark and I missed him. 

As I was thinking about fact as I stood that night in California beside the gas pump, out of the blue I heard God saying, “You know how much you love Mark in spite of his flaws? I love YOU so much more … in spite of all of your flaws. I know every single one and I love you anyway. I want you to know: you do not love your best friend more than I love you.”

That was all He said. But as I got back behind the steering wheel, something had shifted noticeably in my faith.

I had always struggled with believing that God loved me. Now I knew something about God that I had only hoped for in the past.

I have no doubt today that gas station moment altered my life.