Knowable Word

Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

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Congratulations to Winners of the Drawing!

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Many thanks, and great job to all who participated in this year’s 90-day Bible reading challenge. This year, we had 68 people complete the Bible reading challenge—the most ever. With the bonus entries granted for those who recruited others to complete the challenge, there were 84 total entries.

Michael C. won the first grand prize of a 12-month pro-level subscription to Logos Bible Software. Jennifer B. won the second grand prize of a premium book rebinding from Pro Libris Rebinding.

With 68 participants, we had six additional prize packages, offered to the following folks:

  • Elizabeth B.
  • Annette K.
  • Michael H.
  • Lou C.
  • Becca B.
  • John L.

I have emailed each of these winners to notify them of their prize. If it seems like your name might be on this list, and you haven’t seen an email from me, you may want to check your spam filter. Or email me at peter.krol@knowableword.com to double check. If I don’t hear back from you by April 8, new winners will be selected to receive the prize.

What People Thought

As usual, there were a variety of perspectives on the rapid reading experience. Some loved it:

  • Someone who completed the Bible in 67 days: “This was a great experience! It was really nice having the story of scripture fresh on my mind from start to end. I will definitely be doing this again.”
  • 30 days: “You see the major themes more clearly and you see the interconnected-ness of the Bible by being in different sections just days apart.”
  • 41 days: “This is my ninth year with this challenge. This time I was inspired by a friend to make time to read large books in one sitting. So I allocated several Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons for two to three hour reading blocks. This greatly improved my understanding of the stories of God. Something that came to light for me this year is what God says about other nations — Edom, Syria, Egypt, and so on. Through this, I saw parallels to our own culture and God’s judgment amidst salvation and redemption. Convicting and encouraging!”
  • 90 days: “It was very exciting and profitable. It was my first time reading the Bible this quickly and felt like my grasp of the Bible and individual books of the Bible grew exponentially.”

Others were not as enthusiastic, but still endured through the challenge:

  • 79 days: “It is not my favorite way to read the whole Bible. I’ve read the NT quick in another Bible challenge. I’ve not read the whole Bible this fast. I prefer to read a few chapters or a chapter at a time-in a day.”
  • 60 days: “I was not a big fan of it. Made me feel rushed and not able to digest it.”
  • 67 days: “I was not able to get everything. Most of what I have already studied jumped out in the context even more, and made me appreciate the when and where. Similarly, I have come to realize that the Bible is not just a tool to be studied, but instead something to simply enjoy. God’s word is also a story meant for our enjoyment which also gives us incredible, life saving truth as well.”

Perhaps my favorite response came from a first-timer, who completed the Bible in 81 days:

I’ve read through the Bible chronologically, but not in such a short time period. This method was superior for getting a good overview of scripture, as well as remembering related details. This was so effective, I plan on doing this again next winter… Thank you for this challenge. It was a fantastic experience and its own reward.

Thanks

Thanks for the great time in God’s word. May it set you up for a profitable time the rest of the year, as you continue delighting in the Spirit-inspired scriptures handed down to us.

Please keep the ideas coming for future Bible reading challenges!

How Haggai Can Help with your Priorities

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Samantha Decker learned something about her priorities from Haggai 1. I bet you and I can as well.

The Israelites were planting, eating, drinking, dressing, and earning wages, but ultimately, it was all fleeting and futile. They were busy with the wrong things.

So often, we’re like the Israelites. We pursue productivity, job success, endless pleasures, do-it-all parenting, and even ministry opportunities over God’s commands and will. Like the Israelites, we need to consider our ways.

Decker’s applications of the text might not be the same as yours ought to be. But nevertheless, she demonstrates well the skill of applying Scripture to head, heart, and hands.

Check it out!

Will You Destroy Yourself or Listen?

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You’ve got two choices: Destroy yourself or listen to Wisdom.

”For the simple are killed by their turning away,
And the complacency of fools destroys them;
But whoever listens to me will dwell secure
And will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Prov 1:32-33)

The road forks before you. Either you’ll turn at Wisdom’s reproof (Prov 1:23) or you’ll turn away from it (Prov 1:32). The simple lean into that second turn. In other words, to do nothing is to make the wrong turn. Just do nothing, and you’ll ruin everything. Keep doing what you’re doing, and you may get exactly what you want. But you’ll be like a partially delirious farm hand who politely declines their water break. If you’re complacent about your walk with Christ, you will severely harm yourself (Prov 1:32).

fluid pouring in pint glass
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But if you listen to wisdom’s rebuke, consider what awaits you. Whoever listens to wisdom (Prov 1:33) will “dwell secure,” “be at ease”, and be “without dread of disaster.” It doesn’t mean that you get whatever you want, but that you always get what you most need.

One woman struggled with her husband’s failure to lead. He would delay decisions and hold his own opinions too highly. When she registered concern, he would ignore her perspective and stop listening to her. This young wife would resort to nagging and manipulation to get her way.

This woman was advised from Scripture to stop doing what she was doing and consider an alternate path. She could support her husband’s decisions even when she disagreed, as long as they didn’t involve sinning. She could pray that God would change her husband, and then she could trust that God was at work despite how she felt. She could get help from church leaders when he belittled or mistreated her.

It should come as no surprise that, when this woman chose the path of wisdom, her anxiety levels decreased, and she began asking her husband how she could better help him. As a result, he felt more respected and started listening to her opinions more. This couple found greater security and ease—and less fear—in their marriage. Their problems didn’t disappear, but dealing with their problems became increasingly simpler for them.

Christ our Wisdom

We must understand that wisdom is readily available, and we have only to listen. Wisdom already took initiative with us and came to us, not in a set of ideas, but in a person. Our duty is not to get everything just right and be perfect, but rather to set our hope in the one who got everything just right and was perfect for us. Jesus gave up everything and became nothing for us, so that we who deserve nothing might gain everything in Him.

Jesus our Wisdom offers us a choice between self-destruction and security:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Mat 7:24-27)

All we have to do is hear, and then do, what He says. The main thing he has said is that we can trust him.  He has made himself available. Will you listen to him despite your love of being simple? Just do nothing, and you’ll ruin everything.

This post was first published in 2012 and is part of a series walking through Proverbs 1-9.

Last Chance to Enter Drawing

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We are nearing the end of our 2025 Bible Reading Challenge. Up for grabs are a subscription to Logos Bible Software, a premium book binding (generously provided by the good people at, respectively, Faithlife and Pro Libris Rebinding), and some additional prize packages.

For the complete set of rules, see this post. If you meet the eligibility guidelines, please be sure to complete the form below to enter the drawing. I will leave the form open until approximately 10am (Eastern Daylight Time) on April 1. Later that day, I will conduct the drawing and email the winners.

Many thanks to all who participated with us this year, and may the Lord use it to fortify a lifelong love for Christ and his word.

Why We Do What We Do

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What we do is a result of what we desire.

Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
Would have none of my counsel
And despised all my reproof,
Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
And have their fill of their own devices. (Prov 1:29-31)

The Bible’s Teaching on Desire

To understand this section, we must understand what the Bible teaches about desire. In particular, what we do is a result of what we desire. 2 Peter 3:3 states that those who scoff at the truth of God’s Word are simply “following their own sinful desires.” Jesus said that “the good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil,” just like different kinds of trees each produce their own kinds of fruit (Luke 6:43-45). This teaching means that we do certain things because we desire certain things.

boy holding cotton candyat the park
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For example, someone yells in anger because he doesn’t get the respect he wants from others. Someone else views pornography out of a desire for comfort, escape, control, or pleasure. Another person says foolish or untrue things because she desperately wants people to like her. In all our actions, what we do is a result of what we desire.

Now when someone believes in Jesus, the Spirit of God takes up residence within him, giving him new godly desires. Galatians 5:16-26 provides a good explanation of this person’s situation. God’s Spirit intercepts his slavery to the old “desires of the flesh” (Gal 5:16). Those old desires won’t give up easily, though, so a battle ensues over which desires will hold supremacy in his heart (Gal 5:17). The presence of such inner turmoil is a sign that he is growing in grace, even if it feels to him like he’s a miserable failure. Thus, he must be reminded constantly that he is free from the penalty of God’s law because Jesus died for him (Gal 5:18). The more he gives in to the old desires, however, the more he will commit sinful actions (Gal 5:19-21). The more he trusts in Jesus through his Spirit, the more he will demonstrate godly character and behavior (Gal 5:22-24). Over time, the Spirit gains more and more ground over the flesh, and the old desires decrease in frequency and power (Gal 5:24-26).

This process is what we normally call Christian growth, or sanctification, and it’s not easy. But in our ignorant simplicity, we think this growth should be easy and not a battle.

The Problem with Wanting it to be Easy

One’s thinking might go like this: “Because I have become a believer in Jesus, I can now trust that certain thoughts, feelings, or desires I have must be from God. I will intuitively know when God is speaking to me or assuring me of a course of action.” This line of thinking can lead some people to foolish ideas like “God wants me to sleep with my partner because we love each other.”

Here’s a major implication of this teaching on desire, though: it is not necessarily a good thing for God to give you what you want. If you’re holding on to your old, sinful desires, it’s actually an act of judgment for God to grant your wishes. So when God loves people deeply, he doesn’t give them what they want; instead, he changes their desires so they will want what he wants. And since God is good and gracious, and He always wants what’s best for them, it’s a tremendous blessing for them to desire the same things God desires. They’ll live out of those beautiful desires and reap wonderful blessings.

Think of it like this: If a child wanted to eat cotton candy every day for lunch, would you let her do it? It’s what she wants, but you know it wouldn’t be in her best interest. Letting her have what she wants would kill her. So, if you care about her at all, you’d work to persuade and train her to desire something else (good nutrition). Once she desires a good thing, then it’s a blessing for her to live according to that desire.

The Point of Proverbs 1:29-31

What is the point? In Proverbs 1:29-31, notice that the “calamity” Wisdom warned against in Prov 1:26-27 is now described in Prov 1:31 as eating “the fruit of their way” and having “their fill of their own devices.” The judgment and distress that wisdom warns against is to get what we want and not what God wants. We’ll have more space to explore what exactly God wants for us when we reach Proverbs 3:13-26 . For now, take note of the fact that calamity results when we get what we want, and not what God wants.

How do we learn to desire what God desires? We must not “hate knowledge” (Prov 1:29). We must “choose the fear of the Lord” (Prov 1:29). We must heed wisdom’s counsel (Prov 1:30). We must not despise wisdom’s reproof (Prov 1:30). In other words, we must learn to suspect our own desires and learn from God’s Word what we should desire instead. Wisdom cries aloud to us. God loved us enough to write down all that he wanted us to know. Will we listen?

This post was first published in 2012.

The Old Testament is More than a Prelude

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Daniel Stevens found from studying Hebrew that the Old Testament is far more than a prelude building up to the New Testament.

It is not just that the Old Testament historically led to the New Testament as a kind of prelude, but rather that the one God who speaks in both Testaments intended them to belong forever to the church as a single body of Scripture. That is, while it is important—necessary even—to read the Old Testament as that which went before the coming of Christ and his gospel in all its historical rootedness as God interacted with Israel, it is just as necessary to read it alongside the New Testament as God’s present word to the church. God spoke in the Old Testament, yes, and in that historical speech, God still speaks.

That is fundamentally what the New Testament authors knew; and that is the key to seeing, as they did, the many-splendored revelation of God in Christ that reverberates through every page of Scripture, Old and New.

The whole Bible is the word of God for us. It all speaks of Christ. It all speaks to us because in it God has spoken to us.

Check it out!

The Lie of Easy Immaturity

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Doing nothing ruins everything. Therefore, if you think it’s easier not to change than it is to change, you are living a lie.

Because I have called and you refused to listen,
Have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
Because you have ignored all my counsel
And would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
When terror strikes you like a storm
And your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently but will not find me. (Prov 1:24-28)

Something has to give. When we love our simplicity and do nothing about it, we are on a crash course with calamity. But who does that on purpose? When was the last time you said to yourself, “This thing I’m doing will destroy me and everything I treasure, so I think I’ll keep doing it as long as possible”? Calamity, terror, storm, whirlwind, distress, and anguish are not our friends.

exploded house in borodyanka
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So why do we keep doing foolish things? Why do we remain immature? Why do we keep going to church, listening to sermons, and painting on smiles, but refuse to change? Why do we ignore counsel, yell at our kids, waste our time, live small lives, maintain distant relationships, and harbor bitter feelings and guilty pleasures? Have you ever led someone to Christ? Have you ever invited a co-worker to church with you? Have you learned how to lead a Bible study with your family or your neighbors? Do you exercise more leadership now than ever before in your life? Are you any more honest, trustworthy, gracious, respectable, or influential than you used to be? Have you ever asked people close to you if they’ve seen you grow in these areas?

We remain simple because we hold on to a deception: that it’s easier for us this way. We think our lives will be fun and carefree if we keep them small and manageable. This is not true. The reality is that our lives will be more difficult, more complicated, and more painful if we remain simple. If we refuse to hear wisdom’s call for repentance, wisdom will deny our call for help.

When the engine to your vehicle blows up, you’ll wish you had learned how to maintain it over time. When your neighbor sues you for encroaching on his property line, you’ll wish you had cultivated the relationship better and fostered more open communication. When you face painful and chronic health issues in old age, you’ll wish you had heeded the wisdom of exercising more and smoking or eating less.

Let me make one qualification. I’m not saying that bad things are always the result of our own sin or foolishness. Many passages in Scripture, such as Job and John 9:1-3, deny such a conclusion. I’m simply saying that choices have consequences, and we ought not be deceived about this fact (Gal 6:7, 1 Pet 4:15). God often allows us to experience the consequences of our own decisions. It’s merciful for him to do so, for it might jolt us out of our deception and motivate us to turn from it. But one of the most disastrous choices is to remain simple. Just do nothing, and you’ll ruin everything.

This post was first published in 2012.

Steep Discounts on Logos Resources

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Logos Bible Software is holding their annual March Matchups, where you can go and vote on which commentaries and Bible background resources you like the best. The farther a particular resource makes it through the bracket, the steeper the discount put on it.

Go ahead and vote. And if you are a Logos user, you can find some outstanding resource series at terrific prices. Even those that lost their matchups are well discounted. I highly recommend the New Studies in Biblical Theology, Church History Magazine, and Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics.

Check it out!

Disclaimer: Logos links are affiliate links. By clicking them and buying stuff, you’ll provide this blog with a small commission at no extra cost to yourself. Thank you for your support.

We Love Being Simple

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Wisdom is available, but we don’t change because we love being simple.

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
And fools hate knowledge?
If you turn at my reproof,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.” (Prov 1:22-23)

Wisdom’s accusation is not that we don’t know enough, or that we’re underprivileged, or even that we’re not gifted with wisdom. Rather, she asks directly, “How long will you love being simple?” We like immaturity, and we choose to ignore wisdom. We don’t want to grow up. We refuse to take responsibility. We prefer to stay put.

a person writing his wish list
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Note that in the second and third lines of Prov 1:22 she switches from talking to the “simple ones” to talking about “scoffers” and “fools.” The simple one is not yet in the same class as a scoffer or a fool, but he will get there soon if he doesn’t do something. The key point here is that wisdom’s rebuke in this passage is not for those who have rejected her outright. She’s not talking to amoral heathen. She’s talking to religious people who hear her instruction regularly, but who haven’t yet assimilated it. She’s talking to those who are young in their faith or immature in their thinking. She’s speaking to those who, for one reason or another, love their current lives and don’t really want to change.

In Prov 1:23, she’s back to addressing the simple ones with “if you turn at my reproof.” Our greatest need is to turn. We have to stop doing what we’re doing, stop thinking what we’re thinking, and stop believing what we’re believing.

For example, maybe you talk too much (Prov 10:19). You know it, and everyone else sure knows it. If someone tells a story, you have to tell one, too. If there’s an issue to discuss, you’re compelled to make sure they understand you on it. When you start talking, people stop listening. Perhaps you’ve come to terms with it, even apologizing for it. Maybe you’ve given people freedom just to interrupt you if you’re talking too much. But the problem here is not that people aren’t honest enough with you. The problem is that you love yourself and you don’t want to change.

Or maybe you’re more of the quiet type (Prov 18:1). You’d never answer a question in a classroom setting. If people ask how you’re doing, you’ll generously drop a safe “fine” or the occasionally risky “pretty good.” If they want more details, they can ask. No one really knows you, but you’re okay with that. If they don’t know you, they can’t hurt your feelings the way others did in the past. You’ve accepted the fact that you’re just an “introvert”; it’s how God made you. You’re more of a behind-the-scenes person than an up-front person. But wisdom’s rebuke lands right in the middle of your excuses: Your life’s not changing because you don’t want it to change.

Personal Application

I need to hear wisdom’s rebuke just as much as anybody else.

I’m not very handy, partly because I grew up in a family that never owned a home. Whenever something broke, we’d call the landlords. My wife, however, grew up on a 9-acre lot in rural Pennsylvania. They never saw an improvement they didn’t like.

So when we got married, Erin had to persuade me to become a homeowner. She succeeded, and my life has lacked a comfort zone ever since. You see, I’m terrified of the unknown. When we bought our first home, fear gripped my heart so completely that when I went to unpack my office, I didn’t even know what to do. I looked around at all the boxes and got so depressed and overwhelmed by the whole thing that I just lay down on the couch and did nothing. When Erin came downstairs from her own unpacking and saw me lying there, she didn’t buy my excuse that “I didn’t know what to do.” She pointed to a box, said “How ‘bout we start with this one?” and began removing its contents.

The problem was not my upbringing, nor was it my personal preferences. The problem was that I loved being simple. I had never owned or maintained a home, I didn’t want to keep up a home, and I didn’t want to learn how to keep up a home. And I didn’t make those choices based on careful study of Scripture accompanied by Spirit-driven meditation. It’s not that I conscientiously believed renting a home would honor Christ more than owning a home would. No, I simply didn’t want to change. I didn’t want the increased responsibility.

When Jesus came, he looked for those with functioning ears to hear what he had to say (Matt 13:9, 13-17; see also Rev 2:7, 11, etc.). He cries out to us, calling us to repentance and faith that we might walk with him in his kingdom. Will you come to him, or love remaining simple (Matt 11:28-30, John 5:39-40)?

This post was first published in 2012.

Reading Challenge Reminder

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Don’t forget we’ve got a Bible reading challenge underway. There’s still time to finish reading the entire Bible within 90 days, and you could enter to win a subscription to Logos Bible Software or a premium book binding (generously provided by the good people at, respectively, Faithlife and Pro Libris Rebinding), or an additional prize package.

Reading must be completed within 90 days, and by March 31. See this post for the complete rules. Once you’ve completed your reading, you may enter the drawing with this form.

Entries that do not meet the guidelines (for example, reading period longer than 90 days, reading period is outside the allowable dates, or form is submitted before you finished reading) will not be counted in the drawing.