Ignorance is a matter of personal choice

Greetings to you, dear friends! Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!

Yesterday we discussed the issue of ignorance; we saw that not knowing the purpose of things leads to abuse and consequently to different types of problems. Also we talked about the fact that the Bible calls us to gain the knowledge of God, His ways, His laws, because ignorance in this area causes punishment and pain in a person’s life.

«And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting» (Romans, 1: 28).

We see that ignorance is a matter of personal choice. To fill one’s mind with God and wholesome information is the duty and task of every one of us.

 «A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself; the simple pass on and are punished» (Proverbs, 27: 12).

If a person does not fulfil this duty, he won’t have enough light to see evil and hide from it. Besides, this verse tells us that such a person (he or she is called „simple”) goes ahead and is punished – not by God, but by his own ignorance. Ignorance separates a person from the life of God, because he knows nothing about God’s provision.

«..having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart» (Ephesians, 4:18).

Because of ignorance human mind is darkened, heart is hardened and he himself is alienated from the life of God. Jesus said that He came so that we could have abundant life.

«The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly» (John, 10:10).

We must realize that we enjoy this life as we grow in our knowledge of God and the knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ.

«And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent» (John, 17:3).

When Apostle Paul was talking about his life he mentioned how he blasphemed God, persecuted the believers and hurt so many people, – all of this happened because of his ignorance.

«..although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief» (1 Timothy, 1:13).

So many people suffered and died because of Paul’s ignorance! Ignorance is deadly, so if we want to ease the suffering in this world we must study and grow in knowledge. Besides the knowledge in natural science and humanities, we need the knowledge about spiritual laws. No matter what your degree is; if you are ignorant in spiritual matters, you are ‘a simple man’.

I will give you a biblical example of how ignorance and negligence of spiritual laws became the source of suffering and misery.

«Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, „It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.” So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah» (2 Samuel, 21: 1-2).

Here we read that there was a famine in the land of Israel for three years. We understand that is a real tragedy. Imagine how many people died during those three years or how violent people had become! Imagine what the crime level was and many other problems linked to the famine! Imagine how many people immigrated to other countries in order to avoid the famine! We see that it was a tragedy for the whole nation. The King David went to inquire God and find out why this continued for so long.

It turned out that the root of this misery was a violation of spiritual laws: in their zeal Saul and his family had killed the Gibeonites even though the Israelites had sworn not to touch them.

«Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them» (Joshua, 9:19).

They could have avoided this famine, if they had set balance between zeal and knowledge. It is good to be zealous, but zeal without knowledge causes misery and losses. Be on fire for God, but at the same time do not be ignorant!

God bless you!

Pastor Rufus Ajiboye