“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
Know, noun – from epiginosko, gr.
to become thoroughly acquainted with,
to know thoroughly
to know accurately,
know well
to recognize by sight, hearing, of certain signs,
to perceive who a person is
to know i.e. to perceive
to know i.e. to find out, ascertain
to know i.e. to understand
The Greek word epiginosko is the word that Jesus uses when he describes “knowing” God – to know His will or His plans. It is a compound word from two other greek words – ginosko, which means “to know, perceive, have knowledge of” and epi, which means “upon.” When Jesus used the term “know” He literally meant “the knowledge which you set upon.”
When I was an undergrad, I began my college career as a Music Education major. I thought I was pretty smart coming out of High School – my band/choir teacher had learned this small town kid pretty well, or so I thought. That is, until I stepped into Music Theory class with Dr. G.
Dr. G. told us on day one that his goal was to fail out half of us by midterms. He was a firm believer that if you wanted to be a Music major, you’d better know your music, and he wasn’t about to put up with people faking it. We then dove in head first, and I quickly realized that I didn’t know squat about music. I could read the Bass clef, sometimes, and that was it. I was drilled to learn the rest of the notes on the staff, to learn about intervals, chordal structure, inversions, sevenths, and other musical terms that I will spare you from.
When I say drilled, I mean it. Every day we had a test of what we had learned up to that point. We were allowed one wrong answer. “Anyone can make a mistake,” Dr. G.’d say, “But two mistakes mean you’re not paying attention.” When the whole class could pass a concept with one or less mistake, it was removed from the test. And so it went for two whole semesters.
This may seem like a rough way to start out a college career, but Dr. G. knew something that none of us “smart” 18 and 19 year olds knew – these drills were the rudiments of everything we would do, day in and day out, for the rest of our career as musicians. His goal was more than just make sure we knew the material in our heads. His goal was to make those basic music theory concepts part of our lives, something we lived with so much that they permeated everything we did, inside and outside of class.
And it worked. To this day, I can’t listen to a song without hearing its chordal structure. When I play my guitar, I don’t read “E – B – C#m – A”, I read “I – V – vi – VI”. When I listen to the radio, I still analyze the rock structure and the forms used by the artist. I hear the way that songs are orchestrated, the layering of the guitar and bass and “tweedles” and how each of the smaller parts forms the song as a whole. I learned to listen and appreciate music on a higher level than the general population. My knowledge of Music Theory has truly moved from my head to my heart. It is a part of me that I can’t get rid of.
In much the same way, there are spiritual concepts that I have moved from my head to my heart – concepts that are so vital to the way I live that I cannot separate them from who I am anymore. “Love is meeting needs.” “Worship is the great equalizer.” “Make disciples and disciple-makers.” “Memorize Scripture.” “You can’t follow God and stay where you are at the same time.” “Someone had to eat the first mushroom.” “It is impossible to say ‘No, Lord.'”These are all great spiritual truths that I learned while I was in college. And they are all truths that form the way I think today, because they truly have been “hidden in my heart.” (Ps. 119:11)
At Challenge UMaine, we are here to strive toward knowledge. I pray for those “AHA!” moments that occur in student’s lives – the times when things click and lives are changed by the truth of scripture. From someone’s first “AHA!” of realizing they are a sinner that needs God’s grace to them finally “getting” why missions matters; these are the things that make my heart sing the loudest praises to a Lord that loves to give knowledge. God created the idea of knowing stuff – He’s a fan of knowledge. If He wasn’t He wouldn’t have made us with such an amazing brain that can store and process information in ways that no other living beings on our planet can.
It’s our responsibility and privilege to use the ability to His glory. Knowing is the first step.