Life Abhors a Vacuum
1 Samuel 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD.
It has often been said that, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” And yet if we consider the vast reaches of space, most of nature is a vacuum. It might be better said that, “Life abhors a vacuum.” Ecology is dependent upon the right mixture of life-giving, life-enhancing elements. Change the ecology and risk losing the entire system. This verse of scripture illustrates that a vacuum is a very dangerous place to try to live. Consider that spiritual living is also a delicate ecology.
Another dangerous component to the vacuum is one never misses the thing that they have never had. What you don’t have can hinder you. Since success is sometimes defined by the smallest of margins, the lacking element could make the difference between looking like the world and pleasing God. What you don’t know will hurt you. Especially if what you don’t know is the Lord Himself.
This is not surprising; the Christian life is dependent upon revelation. Jesus said that the church itself would be built upon the revelation of who He is…[i] That the church’s success depends on the identity of Jesus Christ is incredible.
Hophni and Phinehas were raised in a priest’s home. They knew the Law, they knew the ropes, and they knew how sacrifices were to be done. They knew what was expected of them. The only thing they did not know was the Lord. That made all the difference. Because they did not know the Lord they were corrupt, or sons of Belial; they mistreated the things of God, took advantage of the worshippers, and were worst of all didn’t seem to care to mitigate the damage.
Knowing the Lord will cause a person to fear the Lord. One is careful to submit to His Lordship and obey His commands. One does not mistreat people for his own gain. The person that really knows the Lord understands that they will stand before Him on judgment day. Knowing the Lord moves one toward righteousness and away from evil. Knowledge of the Lord drives corruption away from a person’s life. This lack of knowledge opens the floodgates.
Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.[ii] A person doesn’t sin because sin is too powerful. One doesn’t sin because the world is too strong. One doesn’t even sin because they are too weak. If 1 John 3:6 means anything, it means that we sin because we are living in a vacuum. There is something missing. There is something that we have not seen about our Lord, or there is something that we do not know about the Lord. What we don’t know is corrupting us. So now, when I sin, I repent first of all but then I sincerely ask the Lord, “What am I not seeing; what is lacking in my knowledge of You that allowed this corruption in?” This simple concept has helped me tremendously. I do not need more knowledge of sin or of the enemy of my soul to overcome; I need a complete knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
