Add to Virtue…Knowledge

2 Peter 1:5 “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge.”

Mardi Collier, the wife of Ken Collier (the Director of the Wilds Christian Camp), has spent much of her life working in camp ministry. The Wilds has stood for over 50 years to bring Glory to God and help all who passed through their gates grow in their knowledge of Jesus Christ. They do this by saturating all that they do with God’s Word.

In an interview that Mardi participated in, she gave us a glimpse into her view on personal devotions. After speaking of her early struggle in having a consistent time in God’s Word, she described a spiritual discovery that changed the way she approached reading the Bible. She said, “eventually I realized that the purpose of having devotions was to show my “devotion” to God and to grow in my relationship with Him. That realization changed everything! When I began to look for Jesus and God in the pages of Scripture, I had a hard time putting my Bible down.”

Peter tells us in our text verse that while we are striving to be virtuous, we also should be focusing on building our relationship with Christ. As we spend time in God’s word we learn more about who He is. And the more we learn about God the more we fall in love with Him. Paul the Apostle, after looking back on all he had accomplished, said “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”(Phil 3:8a). While he knew the importance of his testimony and strove to live a life that would bring honor to God, he also knew the importance of growing in the knowledge of his God.

Do you struggle in spending time in God’s word daily? Life is busy and there is so much demand on our time that it seems almost impossible to carve out even a few minutes for “devotions”. I think most of us want to, but we fail more times than not. And when we do fail, we feel guilty and defeated. Can I encourage you in something? God’s love for you does not change based on your performance. As a matter of fact, He knows we are going to struggle. He knows we are going to fail. And He loves us regardless. Maybe we need to consider Mardi’s testimony and quick thinking of devotions as a “duty” and more as a “delight”. It changes everything when we begin to seek Christ in our bible reading.

Today, as we ReFocus our hearts and minds on Christ, let’s seek to grow in our knowledge of God. The Bible is more than just words on a page. It is more than a collection of wise saying or devotional thoughts. It is the very Word of God and reveals to us His great love and mercy. When we read the Bible to grow in our knowledge of our Savior we will find it a hard book to put down!