Not gonna lie. I was STRUGGLING with coming up with something—anything—to write for this month’s blog. After YEARS of blogging, I hit it. A wall. Oh, I had ideas. Just a few spaces below this line I’m typing right now, I have a list of seven topics. But as my eyes graze over them, inside I go Meh.  

My youngest daughter tried to help. “What would be next in the series?” 

“Not doing a series right now.” 

“What about thoughts on some prophetic words?” 

“Hmmm…maybe. I’ve done that before.” 

“Well, then, why don’t you just read your Bible and listen?” 

THAT’S IT! Read your Bible and listen. It’s a place I love to be. There’s just something about reading His Word, then pausing to soak in His presence and His voice. So powerful. It’s a time of life-giving, life-changing revelation.  

Don’t get me wrong, I love to listen to the Bible. On busy days, to be honest, that’s how I get the Word in me. I listen to it. It’s good. I love to study the Bible, like, I REALLY love to study the Bible with all the tools I can find. Lexicons, archeology, Bible and Jewish encyclopedias, parabiblical historical references, and Greek and Hebrew grammar and word references. Not to mention gleaning ideas and inspiration for new rabbit trail wanderings from newsletters I subscribe to and a podcast I listen to. There’s SO MUCH out there we can access and use with just a few little mouse clicks (or even hovers, I mean, WOW, sometimes I don’t even have to click!) in this content-saturated time. As someone who remembers the time before the internet, it still blows my mind, how EASY accessing and researching content has become. 

But what I’m talking about is NONE of that. As amazing as that is (and fun!), it’s not the same as taking a verse or two—not many—reading it and simmering on it in His presence. THAT’S when life-changing revelation just EXPLODES. It might take time, don’t expect it to happen in a minute or two, it might take five or ten or even more minutes, but spending time with our Father, listening to His heart is as close as we can get to heaven on earth. There’s nothing else like it. 

See…I can study and amass knowledge. As a person wired to be a teacher, I LOVE knowledge. Yep, knowledge hog over here. But that isn’t the same as experiencing truth from His heart and Word. That’s what really builds. I think I’m going to type that again. Knowledge may expand and amass, but it’s truth that builds, and for me, BUILDING is what we’re aiming for. Can knowledge play a part in it? Oh, yes. We need to learn, to study, to understand our Scriptures, it’s a critical part of our life’s foundation, but ultimately, if we get stuck just geeking out on knowledge, what have we really built?  

Have we built anything beyond some neural connections? Have we changed lives? Have we changed? That’s the difference. Truth changes. Truth builds. Truth sets us free. Perhaps knowledge and truth can go together, but let’s not be satisfied with some niceties for our memory banks, let’s press in for God’s life-changing truth. Let’s read our Bibles and listen!