Benjamin
May 27, 20203 min
Weekly Meditation
"I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. " (Ephesians 3:18-19)
"The first step in knowing is to know how much you do not know."
I have no idea who said that. Actually I have no idea if anyone said that, but I have heard the sentiment before. I am reminded of my favorite quote from Mark Twain who said, "When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardy stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." All parents can relate to that. If we are honest, so can all children.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how much I don't know. I wish I had paid closer attention in Bio 101 back in college. Then maybe I would have a better understanding of viruses and how they work. There is a funny meme on social media about how old friends who struggled in ninth grade biology are suddenly epidemiology experts. If only we knew how much we do not know.
That applies to God, too. I am grateful to Paul for praying for my powers of comprehension. The "breadth and length and height and depth" of the "fullness of God" often leaves me bewildered. There is so much more to God and the love of Christ than what passes for my understanding that in the end all I can do is stand in awe.
The word humility comes to mind. It is when we think we know more than we know that we get ourselves into trouble. "Sure, I know right where this road goes." "Of course it's safe." "I know what Jesus would do." Humility means being able to add, "but I may be wrong." Then again, I may be wrong.
Humility also means reaching out to a God whom we will never know completely. It means standing in awe and wonder before a God whose "breadth and length and height and depth" far exceeds our own. When it comes to God, there is so much we do not know.
What we can know and what we do know is a love that surpasses knowledge. It is a love that wraps itself around us so completely that we cannot escape; a love that would surely crush us were it the very source of life itself. It is a love that fills us with the fullness of God, though I doubt we can ever be completely full.
There is much I do not know, about God, about viruses, about the universe. But I do know this: the love of God in Christ fills my soul and I want to share it with all the world.
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