Head knowledge or Heart knowledge?: Luke 10

"And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." -Luke 10:25-37

Any child who has attended Sunday school for a while could recite to you the story of the good Samaritan. Even in the secular world, the term "Good Samaritan" is thrown around when someone goes out of their way to be good or helpful. The same thing can be said about many stories in the Bible. For so many people growing up in the Church today, we know all about the Bible. Most likely, this is you. You can list the nine fruits of the Spirit. You know all of the Ten Commandments. You can recite the books of the Bible in 30 seconds flat. Enter the lawyer in Luke 10.

This lawyer was not someone off the street who had never heard of God. Like a good Sunday School kid, he knew exactly what the Scriptures said. Where his struggle was, just like so many believers today, was in doing what they said. He probably memorized many Scriptures, knew the words to every worship song, gave money to the Temple. But when it came to doing what the Scriptures said, he was lost. He tries to find a loophole. He tries to justify himself.

Look at how Jesus answers his question. The question was, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus answers by telling him how to be a neighbor. This lawyer did not need more head knowledge. He didn't need more rules. He needed to obey and follow Christ.

Many of us have been going to Church for most of our lives. We fill our lives with head knowledge about Christ. When situations pop up, we know what the Bible says to do, but do we know what the Scriptures mean? We know every story from Genesis to Revelation, but do we apply it? It is time to make all this head knowledge ABOUT God heart knowledge which we use to SERVE and OBEY God. When we hear messages at Church or read in our Bible, we need not just to read them but to go and do likewise.