Observation: Paul writes to the church in Ephesus that he received a commission of God's grace "by revelation". We can fill in the blanks of that story, because we know Paul was knocked to the ground by the blinding light of the Risen Christ, and his life changed course from then on.
Application: There's a school of thought that is very prevalent these days, that says spiritual enlightenment comes from "looking inside yourself", from meditation, from life experience, from doing good things for others, from hard work and study. This is very attractive to our individualistic, works-centeted culture. You should have to do something. Wisdom should come to the gifted and the passionate. Only the Sherlock's of the world should crack the case.
The trouble is, from a Christian perspective, that's heresy. A very particular heresy, in fact, called Gnosticism. The idea that there's secret spiritual knowledge to be won only by certain special people is contrary to the Gospel. The Christian Gospel is all about revelation. We only know stuff because God tells us. Meditation is great. Life experience is great. Doing good works is great. But we could never, ever, if we lived a thousand years, learn what we really need to know about ourselves or about God or about the significance of our lives, if God didn't spell it out for us. Lucky for us, again and again, through God's Word, God has done just that. You don't have to be Sherlock. You just have to be listening.
Prayer: Thanks, God, for the gift of revelation. May your word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Amen.
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