Knowledge

“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” - James 2:19 NIV

“You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” - James 2:19 NLT

“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” - James 2:19 ESV

In the midst of sharing about the need to have faith WITH works, James added this pearl of wisdom. Faith is more than believing that there is one God.

When I was a kid, we didn’t go to church very often. Sometimes at or around Christmas. Sometimes on Easter. Mostly sporadic at best.

Though my parents taught me how to pray as a small child, Church and things of faith were not a priority, were not a big part of our lives. Thus, they had little bearing in our lives and actions.

So, I grew up with this head knowledge of who God and Jesus were, but I had no heart knowledge. I had no experience with them. There was no relationship.

I knew God was God. I knew who Jesus was and what He did on the cross. I knew about the virgin birth (though I didn’t understand it.) And I knew about the resurrection. I had been to church (like I said, sporadically), I had heard the stories.

And that’s where it stopped. I had some head knowledge, but had no heart knowledge.

Even the demons know and believe at least as much as what I knew and believed... and they shudder.

I mean, think about the depth and magnitude of what James is saying.

How many people come to the westernized church on a weekly basis and attend merely for social reasons, attend merely because grandma did/does, attend merely to gain business and social contacts? They may even be active members of a Sunday School class… or may have even been elected deacon… because, after all, they’re seen and known in church.

Yet, time and time again, they leave unchanged… unfilled… without a saving relationship with Jesus Christ

They have a head knowledge of Christ, but no heart knowledge. No belief. No trust. No relationship with Jesus.

Faith, like love, is an action verb.

Faith causes us to draw near to Christ, to strive to know Him more and more, to take up our cross and follow, to become more like Him, to treat other like He would treat them.

Faith ultimately causes us to want to live out what we say we believe. It causes us to want to share the good news - the Gospel of Jesus Christ - to a lost and dying world around us.

Head knowledge, on the other hand, is stagnant and dead, like the demons who shudder at the mention of His name.

O Lord, help us move beyond head knowledge. Help us tune out the voices of this world that try to drown out your voice and your truth. Help us overcome our pride and our ego, or anything else that tries to keep us from truly knowing you. Help us go deeper and know you more. Help us grasp your saving grace, and accept and believe regardless of our church attendance or our role within it. O Lord, help us fill the hole in our stone cold heart with you. In Jesus name I pray.

Keep the Faith... Carpe Diem