Lack of knowledge...

Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge..

Isaiah 5:13

I am currently studying Isaiah and this particular scripture has hit me pretty hard.  At the time Isaiah wrote this, Israel was being rebellious, they had abandoned God and He had many things to say about what they were doing wrong. 

But this one simple verse is so telling....

they went into exile for their "lack of knowledge"

How much do you/I know about God?

How much have you/I studied His Word, the Truth?

How many books have you/I read this week and how much of scripture have you/I read?

As if this scripture wasn't convicting enough, God brought it into my full view with my devotion today....

For is it not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.

Deuteronomy  32:47

It's puzzling that so many Christians try to live the Christian life without reading their Bible, except for sporadic perusals of God's Word, seeking a pithy thought for the day.  The Word of God is not merely a source of helpful suggestions, preventative warnings, or inspirational thoughts: It is life itself!

God gathered the children of Israel at the edge of the Promised Land to review their pilgrimage with Him.  They had spent forty years in a desert because their parents had not trusted God's word.  Their parents died without seeing the Promised Land because they had not believed God's word.  Even the revered Moses was soon to leave them because he had not shown proper reverence for God's word. Many of them knew those who had been put to death as a consequence of their disobedience to God's word.  Over the years God's word had become the most important thing in the life of the Israelites.

God commanded His people to bind His words on their hearts, to teach them diligently to their children, and to regularly discuss them in their homes (Deut. 6:4-9). So essential was His word that it was to hold a prominent place in the daily lives of His people.  

Our reverence for God's Word is reveled not only by what we say but also by what we do.  Spending more time reading and studying the words of people rather than the Word of God, reveals our hearts' condition.  To blatantly disregard God's Word is to reject life itself.  To obey God's Word is the surest way to experience all that God has in store for us.

We can't fully know Him without studying His Word.

Not just what other's say about it, but the Scriptures themselves.

I, for one, do not want to be like Israel at that time.  

I want to know Him.

I want to know His Word.