Living in the Now vs. Living in the Know

There is a word worth sharing about the difference between living in the now and living in the know.

Living in the “now”: walking by sight

To live in the “now” is to let the things you see guide your life. The Word of God calls this walking by sight, walking by the flesh, walking by what merely seems right:

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Proverbs 14:12 (NKJV)

That is how most people around us walk. If you are not letting the Holy Spirit and the Word of God guide you, then you are letting your own mind and your own desires guide you. Paul describes exactly this:

…whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame — who set their mind on earthly things.

Philippians 3:19 (NKJV)

They are living in the now. Paul carries the same thought into 2 Corinthians:

…while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18 (NKJV)

We are not to take our strength or confidence from what is seen, because it is temporary. Everything you possess — your bank account, your possessions — will one day fade from you. That is a hard truth, but we do not want to be cowards; we want to be courageous with the truth and accept it. When the storms come, a life built on the sand of the now will be shaken. A life built on the rock stands. Those who live only for the now are, as Scripture says, passing away; their life is vain, not reckoning with eternal realities and eternal judgments.

Living in the “know”: intimate revelation

There truly is a real life after this life. We will step out into eternity, and what we did with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ is all that will matter — not how much you made, where you worked, or how much fun you had. Jesus points us toward this deeper “knowing”:

He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”

Matthew 13:11 (NKJV)

That word “know” is no light thing — it means an intimate relationship, an intimate understanding. I might know about a famous person without knowing them. In the same way, we can know about the things of God, but God wants us to actually know them. That is why He has given us the Holy Spirit — that we would truly sense and possess these realities in our being, and want to draw more from Him. And He promises that to those who ask, more will be given:

…You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.

Matthew 11:25 (NKJV)

God has made this a life of faith, and He has made it simple: it is the babes who receive the revelation and the wisdom. Ask, and believe. But those who think they do not need God, who imagine they have it all figured out and perfectly planned — from them Jesus said these things are hidden. You do not want the treasures of the kingdom hidden from you; that would be the worst of losses. Press in to the kingdom of God. Live in the know rather than the now.

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