For the past few years, I’ve been working through the free online Bible study courses from Ethnos360 Bible Institute with a good friend of mine. The material has been outstanding, and I’d encourage you to explore it if you haven’t already (you can find their courses by clicking the button at the bottom of the blog). We’re currently studying the Gospel of Mark, taught by a gifted instructor named Joey Ray.
A few weeks ago, we wrapped up a section in Mark 3 that I’ve continued to reflect on. Joey challenged the idea that education is our hope - that if we simply know more and gain more knowledge, that is what will ultimately change us. But education doesn’t save us. Being smart doesn’t transform the heart. Growth in knowledge is essential, but information alone cannot produce transformation.
Joey built on that challenge with this statement: knowledge will either be used by your sinful heart to make you a better sinner, or by your sanctified heart to help you serve the Lord more faithfully. Knowledge has the potential to deepen your joy in the Lord, to make your faith more vivid and your hope more clear. But it also has the potential to be wielded as a weapon - feeding our natural tendency toward pride, hardening the heart, and/or strengthening self-reliance.
That’s why the posture of your heart and the object of your faith matter far more than the amount of information you accumulate.
In Mark 3:5, we see the spiritual leaders responding to Jesus with hardness of heart. These men had more Scriptural knowledge than most of us will ever have. Their issue wasn’t intelligence. It wasn’t education. It was their hearts - the posture of their hearts.
As Jeremiah reminds us:
“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
To give to each person according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.”
— Jeremiah 17:9–10
At the close of this section, Joey challenged us to journal - or sit down with a friend - and wrestle with some sobering questions:
● What is your motivation in studying God’s Word?
● How am I representing the King?
● Can people clearly see the King working in and through my life?
Because the fork in the road isn’t what you know. The fork in the road is what you love.
It isn’t how smart you are, but who - and what - you’re putting your faith in.
Ultimately, the goal of studying Scripture is not to sharpen our intellect but to shape our hearts - to better reflect the King.
Written By: Lee Miles
