Limitations of Knowledge

Scripture References: Genesis 11:1-4; Acts 17:21

We know that the remarkable Inca culture began about 850 B.C. We also know they abandoned their cities 2,300 years later—but not why. We know they split granite blocks, hauled them up and down steep gorges to building sites miles away, and fitted them so tightly without mortar that not even a knife’s edge can be inserted between them. How they achieved these incredible engineering feats without iron tools, draft animals, or wheeled vehicles we cannot say. We know they ruled a vast empire that could muster armies within days, and that they divided their population into twelve age groups, each with specific assignments. We don’t know how they managed this Herculean task without a written language, numerals, or currency.

All human knowledge, however replete, pales before our greater ignorance. Nowhere is this truer than in the spiritual life. What we know about God is about the same as fifty cents worth of information out of a billion dollar mine. Not that we lack essential information. Whatever we need to know, God has revealed. In turn, he expects obedience, whatever our level of knowledge.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved.