"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. "

Once again I am truly amazed at how God works.  I read the first passage a couple of days ago and wanted to write about it.  I am a big knowledge junkie and I'll explain that in a minute.  What was interesting was that God said no, write this other thing instead. 

So I did.  But I kept wanting to get back to this first passage.  God wouldn't let me.  Today I found out why.  Today I read the second passage.  God knew that second passage was coming up and wanted me to combine them.  God is so cool! 

Now I know that many of you are probably saying "Oh come on, God doesn't get that involved in our daily lives.  God doesn't communicate directly with us like that."  Well believe what you want but I'm here to tell you my friend that God truly does do that.  I experience it on an almost daily basis and you can too if you want to.  Read on to find out how.

Hosea 4:6(NKJV)

    My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.     Because you have rejected knowledge,     I also will reject you from being priest for Me;     Because you have forgotten the law of your God,     I also will forget your children.

I have been a knowledge junkie for years.  The Bible is replete with exhortations to acquire knowledge and I have internalized that desire.  Actually that gives me way to much credit.  I think the more accurate description is that God blessed me with that desire.

I would much rather be learning something than watching TV.  Most evenings the TV is on but only as background noise because I am learning about working on cars, or how to use CAD/CAM software, or how to program micro controllers, or any number of other things.  I'm just sucking in knowledge like a vacuum cleaner and I believe my life has been blessed because of that.

There are a couple of things about that first passage that bother me.  It says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  But the second part is the damning part.  It isn't that knowledge isn't available.  It is that the people rejected it!  That is just sad!

I remember back in the day graduating from high school, there were some who made statements like I'm never going to open a book the rest of my life and they were proud of it.  That sounds like rejecting knowledge to me.  And then people like that are surprised that life doesn't turn out as well as they had hoped.  Go figure. 

Now read the verse from today.

Hosea 6:6(NKJV)

    For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,     And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

What kind of knowledge should we be seeking?  All kinds really but number one on the list, head and shoulders above all other knowledge is the "knowledge of God".  The passage above is God speaking and He is telling us that He would rather see us seeking His knowledge than see us doing the burnt offerings etc.

Ever wonder why that is?  While I don’t presume to speak for God I'll take a stab at the explanation.  I think it is the fact that when we are seeking God we are expending personal time and effort on building our relationship with God, which is what Scripture tells us is what God truly wants.

It is real easy to write a check (the offering).  It is something else altogether to set aside time in our schedules every day to passionately seek God.  I believe it shows where our heart really is.

So I promised above to tell you how you can have God intervening in your life on a regular basis.   It starts with accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Have you don’t that yet?  Why not right now.  Just have a conversation with Jesus and ask Him to guide you.  "Dear Jesus…."

Now get in to the Bible every day.  My recommendation is that you read one chapter from the Old Testament and one Chapter from the New Testament each day.  Then simply keep a journal of what God taught you that day.  What knowledge did you get from God's word today?  Write it down!

The more you do that the more you will begin to hear God and recognize His guidance in your life on a daily basis.  Give it a try.  I guarantee there is no more satisfying way to live!