Ignorance is Bliss….Or Is It?

Here is a saying that is believed by many to be true. If you don't know, how can you care? For example, if you are not aware people are saying negative things about you , then it doesn't affect you….thus, ignorance is bliss, or another popular proverb….what you don't know can't hurt you. Is it really true? Really?

No. Ignorance is a very bad thing. Think of all the ways ignorance causes problems. It is used as a tool to avoid responsibility…i.e. "I didn't know that was a rule". It is used to avoid taking on challenges… "I don't know enough to make a decision". It is also used as an excuse to avoid caring for someone else….. "I didn't know he was in the hospital." Not knowing isn't sin, but it provides the opportunity for sin. It is easy for one to "deliberately forget" as Peter might say. 2 Peter 3:5

Jeremiah put it this way. Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT)

⁹ "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,

and desperately wicked.

Who really knows how bad it is?

Perhaps this is one reason David prayed for God to "create within me a Clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" Psalm 51:10

The Scriptures are full of encouragement to learn, seek, discover and long for truth. In fact, Jesus encouraged the disciples that the Holy Spirit would be a guide into all truth. Wow. The Holy Spirit is a Guide into Truth. (John 16:13) No doubt the early Pentecostals insisted that the only true work of the Spirit would draw attention to Christ. Whoa. That's a whole other blogpost.

The world seems to think Christians are anti-intellectual. Maybe we give them reason to think so way too often. The Bible celebrates wisdom, learning, and the search for truth! I read a Proverb today that prompted this thought. It's Proverbs 19:8.

Whoever gets sense loves his own soul;

he who keeps understanding will discover good.

May the Lord bless all your efforts as you "get sense"

The Bible is God’s Word…Scripture List

The Bible is God's Word. This morning in Church I had the privilege of preaching concerning this topic. You can listen to the message here. The Bible is God's word because the of who the Author is, and the Bible is the word of God because of how people in the Bible used it. I quoted several Scriptures this morning that I wanted to make available to people to study so I thought this would be the best way to do it and since this blog turns references into hyperlinks, I'm happy to present these to you. The main point I have to share is the importance of our personal valuing of God's word. It is HIS word, not ours. It commands respect. I cite these verses to allow them to illustrate to us all how MUCH Jesus relied upon the Scripture, referenced it, taught from it, etc. and how the apostles followed His example. May you be blessed to "study to show yourself approved" and dig deeper into this treasure of God's word.

Mark 12:10
Haven't you read this scripture: " 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
Luke 4:21
and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
John 2:22
After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
John 7:38
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
John 7:42
Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"
John 10:35
If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
John 13:18
"I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.'


John 17:12
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
John 19:24
"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.
John 19:28
Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."
John 19:36
These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken,"
John 19:37
and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."
John 20:9
(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Acts 1:16
and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus—
Acts 8:32
The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Acts 8:35
Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Romans 4:3
What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."


Romans 9:17
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Romans 10:11
As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
Romans 11:2
God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:
Galatians 3:8
The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."
Galatians 3:16
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.
Galatians 3:22
But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
Galatians 4:30
But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."
1 Timothy 4:13
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
1 Timothy 5:18
For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
James 2:8
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
James 2:23
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.
James 4:5
Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?
James 4:6
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
1 Peter 2:6
For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
2 Peter 1:20
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.