Knowledge - The Net (Daily Devotional)

Greetings and welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you once again for giving us this time to spend a few moments in the word and in prayer. This week, we've been talking about the knowledge of God and today we focus our attention on Matthew chapter 13 and verse 47, it says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish." This is one of Jesus' teachings on the kingdom of heaven and the final judgment, but it carries both an invitation and a warning. Jesus, as we know, often used parables and hyperboles to explain spiritual truths and since most of His listeners were fishermen, the image of a dragnet would have been very clear to them. A dragnet was a large fishing net dragged through water, gathering all kinds of fish together. Later on, the fishermen would separate the useful fish from the useless ones. Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like that net which was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish." Then He says that the net was found with both bad and good fish. Here's the truth, knowledge without transformation is dangerous. The net gathered both good fish and bad fish. This shows that among people connected to spiritual things, there are genuine believers, superficial believers, and spiritually mature believers. The Pharisees during Jesus' time knew the scriptures well. They could quote the scriptures, they followed the law, yet they fail to recognize who Jesus is. They had religious information, but they lacked spiritual revelation. Knowledge without intimacy with God can lead to pride instead of transformation because the word of God clearly implies that spiritual knowledge produces fruit. Good fish were kept because they were useful and acceptable. Likewise, genuine believers will produce fruit. Peter began as an impulsive, immature person, but after walking closely with the Lord Jesus, he grew in wisdom and spiritual understanding. True knowledge always leads to growth. At the end of the age, Jesus says there will be a separation and this reminds us that one day every heart will be revealed before God. The question will not be simply, "Did you know God?" but rather, "Did you truly know Him?" The net is still being cast today. God is still calling His people deeper. May we not settle for surface religion, but grow continually in the true knowledge of God through intimacy, obedience, and a beautiful relationship through Jesus Christ. Let's pray, Father, we thank you for this invitation that you've given each one of us. We pray that even as we pursue you and are drawn to you, that our hearts will be tuned to you, that you see our hearts, and we pray that we will be effective, purposeful in all that we do, bringing glory and honor to your name, oh God, thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
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