It’s not what you know but who you know
“It’s not what you know but who you know.” Have you ever heard anyone say that? Usually it is said by someone who believes some other person has received a promotion or some other honor because someone has shown favoritism to him, not because he earned it. Often this is the case. People are often promoted over those who are better qualified because they know the boss and the other person doesn’t. This is certainly unfair.
But there is one case where who you know is more important than what you know
John 17 is a prayer Jesus made shortly before he was arrested. In it he defined eternal life.
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)
We cannot earn eternal life by anything we do or know. It is a free gift that God gives to those who know him. You are probably aware of the fact that there are many religious leaders with advanced degrees in theology who deny many of the truths that are plainly taught in the Bible. They certainly know more than I do, but it is obvious that although they know a lot about God they do not know God and therefore don’t have eternal life.
When the Wise Men came to Jerusalem looking for the King of the Jews, King Herod asked the chief priests and scribes where the Christ would be born. They were able to tell him that he would be born in Bethlehem, but as far as I can tell none of them went to Bethlehem to see him. They knew a lot about the Christ but none of them had any desire to actually know him.
What about you? Do you actually know God and Jesus Christ or do you just know about them? If you aren’t certain I recommend that you read the gospel of John. It was written for those who want to know Jesus better.
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30,31)
I got the idea for this post from reading this blog post: Not what you know but WHO you know. If you liked my post you would probably enjoy reading it as well.
Posted on December 8, 2019, in salvation and tagged eternal life, insanitybytes, knowing God, knowing Jesus Christ, See, there's this thing called biology…. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
clydeherrin 
Thank you for linking, Clyde. Much appreciated.
I like how you wrote about Jesus being born in Bethlehem, how the scribes and priests knew that prophesy and yet they still didn’t go there to greet Him. It reminds me of the crowds on another day, the ones who refused to acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth since the Messiah was supposed to be born in Bethlehem. There’s something in both of those tales about the dangers of leaning too much into our own understanding. We aren’t always as smart as we think we are.
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