Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 2Peter 1:2-3
In their wilderness wandering God quite literally gave His people their daily bread. Those who gathered much had no excess and those who gathered little had no lack. He knows what we need, and He has supplied it—past tense.
God’s knowledge of our need can rightfully be put down to omniscience. But it need not be as hard to understand as what it is like to be all-knowing. He knows our need, because he made us. Body, soul, and spirit all are in accord with God’s design. In that design plan, God provided all things that pertain to life and godliness or as the poet Milton said, “Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall”.
Feelings of want or lack are not a supply problem. They are a communication problem. Either we have not effectively communicated our need to God or we have failed to clearly hear what God wants from us. The problem lies with us. The answer to what God wants from us is simple. From the beginning God has wanted only one thing from Man. That has never changed and never will.
The answer that probably jumps to mind first is love. After all the first and great commandment is Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. But this is not the entire story. God does not want us to say we love Him—He wants us to show we love Him.
I talk to writers all the time about the difference between showing and telling. Personally, I approach my writing as if all my readers are from Missouri. “Show, don’t tell” is the key to any hearer’s belief and faith. God wants love alright, but He wants it shown. He wants obedience.
As Samuel told Saul, “To obey is better than sacrifice”. The entire fall of Man was a failure to obey God’s one simple desire. Nothing has changed.
Granted, it can be more difficult for us to understand what constitutes obedience. We now have two commandments. They are broad sweeping commands. This presents a “good news, bad news” dilemma. The good news is that God is eager for us to know how to please Him. The bad news is that God is more eager to tell us than we are to hear it and do it.
Nevertheless, the ability to please God is within us. It’s there somewhere under all the clutter we’ve thrown on top of it, but it is there.
Maranatha
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