Knowledge is different from understanding.
Knowing is comprehension; understanding is deeper because it comes from empathy or identification.
The premises of this topic is derived from Genesis 2.
There were two trees in the middle of the garden of Eden.
The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.
A question always pops through my mind when I read this scripture.
This is the question 👇
Why didn't Adam and Eve eat of the tree of life but rather the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
Of course,both were in the middle of the same garden.God put no restriction around the tree of life but he did around the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
One day during my meditation,I realised that it was because of Man's disobedience and inquisitive nature.
Man always wants to know.From analysis,you will notice that it is the quest for knowledge that drove the disobedience.
Parents really have to be careful with over inquisitive children.
Knowledge is good,but not every knowledge is good.
It takes understanding to decipher good knowledge from bad knowledge.
Adam and Eve preferred to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil even when there was a clear consequence(you will die).
Immediately they ate that,the Bible records that,thier eyes were opened.
It wasn't just thier ordinary eyes that were opened,it was thier eyes of understanding that were opened.
If they understood before they ate,they probably wouldn't have eaten the fruit.
They had the knowledge that if they ate from the tree which God warned,something bad will happen which is death,but they lacked the understanding of why they would die.
After they sinned,Immediately God appeared to them and sent them out of the garden because He knew that as they had the understanding of good and evil,they would want to eat from the tree of life and sin would be everlasting.
This is the reason they were driven out of the garden.
Psalm 119:104a
I shall have more understanding than my teachers.
It is the understanding you have that enables you to practicalize and apply the knowledge you've earned.
The Bible didn't say,I shall have more knowledge because it's possible to know and still be useless.
That explains the value of understanding.
Conclusively,get knowledge,but in addition get understanding and not just mere understanding but the right understanding.
Thanks for reading this.
I hope it blessed you.