“As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.” (2Cor 6:1 NIV)
I want to remind you of how important it is that you do not waste the grace of God that has been poured out upon you. Paul, writing to the Corinthians in our opening text, tells them not to waste the grace of God that they have received. And this man of God says this because he is aware that one can actually receive God’s grace in vain; one can actually waste His grace.
Now one main way to waste the grace of God is to cultivate a habit of not acting on His revealed truths. Remember that the grace of God, according to the Scriptures, is multiplied to us as we increase in our knowledge of Him (2Pet 1:2). And God’s desire is not just for us to increase in our knowledge of Him or of His truths; His desire is also for our lives to be transformed on the basis of what He is revealing to us about Himself. But if we are just accumulating the knowledge of the Scriptures or of the Holy One and are making no effort to apply this knowledge to our lives on a daily basis, then we are deceiving ourselves and will never come to a full knowledge of the truth. (Cf. James 1:22)
Our Lord, in one of His public meetings, told the Jews who believed in Him that the only way for them to discover the truth in what He was teaching them was for them to practise it and to keep on practising it. His words are:
“… If you continue to obey my teaching, you are truly my followers. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32 NCV)
Can you see that? You will never discover the truth about God or life and enjoy liberty until you begin to do what He tells you. So, knowing the truth goes beyond accumulating the knowledge of the Scriptures or saying that you know this and that about God. Knowing the truth comes with practising the word of God; it comes with applying to your life the teachings of Jesus Christ.
I am saying this because I do not want you to be like those women that the Bible speaks of, women who are ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth (2Tim 3:7). There are indeed many today that are ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. And that is because they will not practise what they are being taught. Some of such people pride themselves in the fact that they have attended several Christian programmes and meetings and have learnt all kinds of things from many great and powerful men and women of God. Some others among them pride themselves in the fact that they have a great collection of Christian literature. Just pay them a visit, and you will see how much effort they put into displaying their books and Bibles and other related materials in order to impress their visitors.
Now I do sincerely hope that you are not like any of such people. I do sincerely hope that the things you are learning in all your church meetings and through other means that God may have provided for you to learn are actually leading you to a more adequate and accurate knowledge of His truth. If they are not, it will most likely be because you have formed a habit of not practising what you are being taught. And that is not good for you, because God does not care about the number of messages we have listened to or the number of Christian books we have as much as He cares about our acting on the truths that those things afford us the opportunity of learning.
So, I propose that you and I will begin to examine ourselves, as we face this new day, to see how devoted we have been to practising all the things God has been teaching us over the years. And it is important that we do this, if we don’t want to continue to waste the grace He has lavished on us. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to do what is right and proper, as far as this matter is concerned, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Life Application: Go back to the last sermon, devotion or Bible passage that really spoke to you and ask yourself, “What did God ask me to do with this, and have I done it?” Write down one truth He has taught you recently and one specific action that you will put it into practice this week – forgiving someone, apologising, giving, or praying at a fixed time each day. Tell a trusted friend or family member what you have decided, so that someone can encourage you to follow through. Until you have acted on what you already know, resist the urge to add more messages or books to your collection.