“Afterwards he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over or through.” Ezek 47:5 (Amplified)
Many years ago now, I came across a joke about the intellectual and the illiterate man. Under normal circumstances, their paths never crossed, but on this occasion both men were travelling on a bus and so were forced to sit side-by-side. As is often the case, they soon struck up an interesting discussion, the sole purpose of which was to enable the intellectual prove his superiority over the illiterate. The former asked the latter, “Do you understand psychology? The illiterate man replied “No”, and the intellectual responded by saying “Then 10% of your life is gone”. A little while later, he asked, “Do you understand anthropology?” When the illiterate man replied as before, our increasingly superior intellectual retorted, “Then 30% of your life is gone. Oh! What a waste of life?” As the journey progressed, the intellectual once again asked his poor travelling companion, “Do you understand theology? The increasingly exasperated illiterate answered as before “No” and was told “Then 50% of your life is gone.”
Some time later, as they were about to drive over a bridge that spanned a large river, a sudden gust of wind lifted and blew their bus into the river and everybody had to save themselves. Our intellectual struggled to keep himself afloat because he did not know how to swim. So, when the illiterate man, who was an excellent swimmer saw his erstwhile tormentor struggling to stay afloat, he chuckled and asked “Professor, do you do swimology?” The hapless intellectual plaintively replied “No”. The illiterate man’s gleefully reply was “Then 100% of your life is gone” and triumphantly swam away, leaving the intellectual to drown with all his knowledge.
The moral of this story is that when it matters, the ‘ology’ that counts is that which keeps you alive and meets your need in the time of trouble. In the Church today, we place a lot of emphasis on ‘ologies’. While knowledge is good and its acquisition should be encouraged, we must nevertheless understand that it is only the means to an end. The key to our fruitfulness as the body of Christ in this opportune time that we are privileged to live lies in our ability to ‘swim’ in the flood of the Holy Spirit’s flow as He moves to positively impact our world and advance God’s kingdom objectives. So, the key question for you is that “Do you do swimology?” or will God’s Spirit bypass you all because you have not yet learnt to operate according to His flow? Understand that your effectiveness in doing God’s work or witnessing for Him is down to how close you are in fellowship to and not necessarily how much you think you know about Him. So, why not take some time to reacquaint yourself with God so that He could in turn send you out as an authentic witness of His grace. This was what Jesus did with His disciples. Mark 3:14. He wants to do the same with you Dan 11:32. Are you available and ready for your swimming lesson that will last a lifetime?
Prayer:
Lord, cause me to understand that my knowledge or the lack of it is not the paramount factor in my life, but that it is your grace that qualifies me to serve you. I make myself available today and ask that you fill me up with your Spirit so that my life can truly reflect your glory and grace in a world desperately in need of your manifest presence in Jesus name. Amen.