and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship
Exodus 31:3
That verse about Bezalel, son of Uri, son Hur probably encapsulates my hopes and prayers for my son more than any other verse in the Bible. A man filled with the Spirit of God, knowing His presence deeply and intimately. Bezalel has also developed ability and uses his intelligence. And he has been filled with knowledge and learned skills. You can have ability and intelligence but if you do not use them or put yourself in a position to learn: knowledge or/and skills then they will come to little.
This one verse shaped the book for my son in a number of ways. You can see it in the four main sections: knowledge, character, practices & skills.
This post is about the knowledge section.
You’re still figuring out that LEARNING STUFF is actually pretty cool. Gaining knowledge and expertise especially when added to WISDOM, GOOD CHARACTER and SKILLS turns life into a deeply rewarding adventure.
THEOLOGY is the study of God. Learning about God, learning about His universe, about His character, and about His nature are all more practical than you might think. And they form the basis for living a life of CURIOSITY, WONDER and FAITH.
This section is an intro or primer into some of the key things to KNOW about God. Several of the books on your list deal with topics on this list.
Cultivate a love for learning and the world will never be dull for you. And neither will God.
I don’t want my son to live with dull eyes. Dull to the riches all around him, dull to the wonders of the world and by extension the wonders of the one who made it all. The world is amazing. The one who made it more so. Knowledge of the one, leads to knowledge of the other. Piecing the puzzles together can be challenging but rewarding, we will need faith for the journey.
Here were the 12 topics I chose:
- Father
- Son
- Spirit
- Word
- Creation
- The Fall
- Gospel
- Kingdom
- Justice
- Discipleship
- Mission
- Renewal
1-3 is about getting to know the nature of the triune God that He has revealed Himself to us.
4-5 are the means of revelation and getting to know God through both.
6-7 is sin, the brokenness of the world and the response to this through Christ.
8-11 is about life in the world, the other side of responding to Jesus. Allegiances, values, life, purpose.
12 is about future hope and living in the light of it.
The hardest thing was nailing it down to 12 and then saying something about each of those briefly, concisely and helpfully. That’s hard work.
Leave a Reply