“Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Him, how is it that thou been a Jew asketh drink of me which am a woman of Samaria? Jesus answered and said unto her “IF THOU KNEWEST THE GIFT OF GOD, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink: thou wouldest have asked Him, and He would have given thee living water.” JOHN 4:9-10 (emphasis mine)
When the value of a thing is not known, misuse, abuse or underuse is inevitable. Before this woman was He “By whom and for whom all things were created” but alas! She knew Him not! Just like it was said of the whole world, “He was in the world, and the world knew Him not”. This woman was having the lifetime opportunity of meeting Him who has d power to give her all the needs of her life but she knew Him not! And as a result, she stood there accusing Him of asking water from her who was a Samaritan. Was that the next thing? But we cannot blame her as she KNEW NOT! If we do not know the value of a gift, abuse or misuse is inevitable! How much we know about the Person of Christ determines the extent He can be a blessing to us. How much of Him we know determines how much we can receive and do through Him. The level and measure of exploits we accomplish as God’s children are directly proportional to the level of our knowledge of Him. “They that KNOW their God shall be strong and do exploits”. The output of my life can only commensurate with my knowledge base, as nobody can do beyond what they know. Jesus, the greatest Gift ever has been given us, but how much of Him do I know? Jesus has been made to us the wisdom, righteousness and power of God, but how much of Him do I know? In Jesus dwells all the fullness of God bodily, but the woman knew not, even as many today! Our chief aim in life is to know God. Jeremiah says, “Let not the rich glory in his wealth or the wise man in his wisdom or the mighty man in his power. But him that glory in this, that he knows me…” Knowing Christ has been the strongest pursuit of all serious saints of God. They sacrificed all to gain not just the mental knowledge of Christ but the experiential knowledge of Him! Paul the Apostle said, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of KNOWING Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him…For His sake, I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish in other that I may win (gain the KNOWLEDGE) of Christ the Anointed one”. This was Paul’s passion even at the tail end of His life! No wonder he was able to accomplish that much for Jesus! IF THOU KNEWEST THE GIFT OF GOD…
This is my heart cry this morning:
More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show;
More of His saving fullness see;
More of His love who died for me.
More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God my teacher be;
Showing the things of Christ to me;
More about Jesus in His Word,
Holding communion with my Lord;
Hearing His voice in every line;
Making each faithful saying mine.
More about Jesus on His Throne;
Riches in glory all His own:
More of His Kingdom’s sure increase,
More of His coming, Prince of Peace.
May the Lord give us a strong desire to know Him?
