Learning plays an important part in so many different facets of our lives.  Work, hobbies, friendships, dating(and marriage), family, the list goes on.  And depending on the topic, what we learn can matter in a variety of ways.  For example, if you find out at work that your boss is sensitive about his receding hairline, it is best not to make jokes about that, especially right in front of him.  I did that once decades ago, not knowing that my boss was VERY sensitive about that topic.  Among friends and family, there might be topics that are “taboo” or just uncomfortable.  It is best to avoid those topics, when possible, in an effort to demonstrate that we love them(i.e. we want what is best for them).  But what about God?

Learning About God

If I never learn how to play the guitar, that is fine.  It’s a temporary thing.  How long can I really play the guitar in this life, anyway?  Or if I make an ill-advised comment about my boss’ receding hairline and lose my job(I didn’t), I can always go get a different job.  But God is different.  My relationship with God is not a temporary thing, and there is no other God.  This means that I need to be careful, mindful, conscientious, etc.  I NEED to learn about Him.  I need to get to know Him. 

I need to know what to do and what not to do, and since He is everywhere, I need to do or not do those things always.  There isn’t anything about me that God doesn’t know(Ps. 139:1-4; later in verse 12, the psalmist states that even the dark is not dark to God; He sees in the dark just as in the bright of day).  There might be things I don’t know about myself, but He knows even those things.  This might seem a little scary, but He’s God, and since He only ever wants what is best for me, Him knowing everything about me is a good thing, unless there are bad things about me that I don’t want Him to know.  How do I learn about Him?

Getting to Know God

I’m not about to suggest that we can ever learn all there is to know about God.  He has shared some of Himself through His Word, but there is likely WAY more to God than what He has revealed to us.  And since we can only do what we can do, our best and only source of learning about God will be limited to what He has revealed about Himself to us.

If you pick up a Bible, it can be a little overwhelming.  I just picked one up, and Genesis through Revelation is 1,748 pages.  I do a significant about of reading, but I prefer reading books that are less than 400 pages.  Any more than that and I tend to get a little overwhelmed.  That might sound silly when taking into account the fact that I read through the Bible in its entirety once per year.  This means that every year I read a book that is over 1,700 pages each year . . . and it’s the same book.  [Note:  I do read a different translation every year, so there is some variety.]  Nonetheless, a Bible is still a daunting task to read.

Now, if there were certain sections in the Bible that were more about God, it would be tempting to read just those, but the simple fact of the matter is that everything in the Bible has His fingerprint on it.  Yes, it is true that some books are more historical than others, but even those help us to understand more about God, what He is like, etc. 

Do Not Get Discouraged

I have been reading and studying the Bible for over half a century, and I still have plenty to learn.  But this should not be a source of discouragement because spending eternity with God is not a test based on your knowledge.  There is no final exam where you sit down with a fill-in-the-bubble sheet, and if you don’t get a high enough score, you are excluded from heaven.  This doesn’t mean that we never have to worry about learning anything about Him, but rather that knowledge alone is not enough.  But just what is enough?

When Is Enough, Enough?

In Matt. 22:36, Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was.  His answer in verses 37-38 was that loving God was the first(most important) and greatest commandment.  This might sound like an easy one, but loving God is more than just a warm feeling.  In I John 5:2-3, John tells us that loving God means keeping His commandments.  Jesus said the same thing in John 14:15.  So, in order to love God, we have to keep His commandments(i.e. do what He says), and the only way we can do what He says is by finding out what He says.  All of this leads us back to learning about God.

Learning About God

If I had to give a starting point, and I do not even like the idea of trying to do this, I would have to start with reading John’s gospel.  All four gospels are great in their own right, but John starts from the beginning, and by beginning, I mean the beginning of this world.  That seems like a good place to start.  He also lets us know that everything he wrote in his gospel was intended to produce faith in Jesus, and that in doing so, that faith would lead us to eternal life with God(John 20:30-31).  There is no stopping point when it comes to learning about God, but John’s gospel seems like a good starting point.

Conclusion

The more I learn about God, the more fascinated I become.  God is amazing, but stating even that seems like completely understating how wonderful God is.  And I suspect that the more you learn about God, the more you will want to learn.  Can some things get frustrating?  Yes, but fight through the frustration.  God has done so much for us.  He wants us to be with Him.  We should want to be with Him.  If we had any idea of how wonderful being in His presence truly was, we would do everything imaginable to make certain we would spend eternity with Him(II Pet. :10-11).