“In everything the prudent acts with knowledge, but a fool flaunts his folly.” Prov. 13:16
No one can argue against the fact that in our day and age, there never has been a time in human history where knowing about anything is literally at our fingertips. We live in an age where knowledge is seen as paramount to success in life and those who have little knowledge, are at an extreme disadvantage.
The same goes for biblical knowledge in Christian circles. Never has there been a day when so many opportunities within the church and externally, either online of through books, to learn biblical doctrine, evangelistic mission, Christian disciplines and Church leadership, as there is today! We are saturated with opportunities to gain knowledge in these areas of learning.
But my concern is this: Gaining knowledge is merely the beginning of what the Lord wants of us. Biblical knowledge gained from studying Scripture by whatever means and to whatever level, is like me wanting to go fishing without getting my gear together and getting aboard the boat! I can talk about it, I can dream about it, I can even believe I am fishing, but all I would be doing is “flaunting my folly.” I would not be prudent and be acting according to what I know.
This is like many Christians. We know, we have learnt, we have it in our heads, we even love to talk about what God wants of us. But we so often fail in applying that knowledge in the day-by-day actions in life. I like what Donald S. Whitney said on this very subject; “Our problem continues to be more of a lack of action than comprehension. The words of Scripture must be understood to be applied, but until we apply them, we don’t really understand them.” [Grace Quotes]