Done with Intellectualism

"Yearly we use mountains of paper and rivers of ink to reprint dead men's
brains, while the living Holy Ghost is seeking for men to trample underfoot
their own learning, deflate their inflated ego, and confess that with all their
seeing they are blind. " Leonard Ravenhill, Why Revival Tarries

Why is it that the sum of our pursuit of God is too often only an intellectual pursuit, when in fact it should be a spiritual one? I have mistaken the intellectual study of God's Word for getting to know God. Make no mistake, there is a place for intellectual study, but that is not the whole of getting to know God.

Several weeks ago, I realized that "with all my seeing I am blind." That is why I come to loathe "devotions." It is solely an intellectual pursuit, when in fact pursuing God is something beyond pure intellect. Even after this realization, I fell prey to intellectualism again as I began to lay out my plan for this year's high school Bible study at church without even consulting God! Can you imagine!

God had to slap me upside the head and say, "Hey, you claim you want to know Me, you want your students to get to know Me, and yet here you go again with this intellectual study as if it was a chore. How about just relying on Me each week instead of making your own plans? Take it a week at a time...NO PLANNING! I will reveal to you each week what to teach your students about Me. I want you to depend on Me and let Me have control."