Not too long ago I needed to by some new ankle socks. The manufacturer of the three-pack I bought thought it necessary to label the socks “L” and “R”.  For the more than six decades I have been wearing socks, I never knew there was a difference between the right and the left ones. But it gets even more confusing. The three pairs of socks in that package were each a different color. When I looked at the white pair, both were labeled “R.” Does that mean there is someone out there with two left feet?

I decided to research whether or not there was a difference between the socks that I could not discern. It turns out that many athletic socks are now asymmetrical fit socks, specifically designed to fit each foot. They even claim that such socks “greatly improve the performance of athletes.”

I didn’t know what I didn’t know. While I remain skeptical of their claim to improve athletic performance, these socks are supposedly specially made for each foot. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

While I was pondering this, God made a connection for me. He reminded me of the Pharisees who rejected Jesus and were always trying to find fault with what He said or did. Read Matthew 12 for multiple accounts of this. They didn’t know what they didn’t know. On the contrary, they thought they knew everything they needed to know and that they were being righteous followers of God. But they were in fact rejecting the one God sent through His chosen people iHiHito be the Savior of all people. They needed to know who He was. Their ignorance led to a rejection of the very Messiah for whom they had been waiting. This rejection was so complete that after Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, “…the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.” They didn’t know what they didn’t know.

This is still the reality for a lot of people today. They don’t know what they don’t know. We see them all around us, living lives that are in conflict with God’s Will. They are so busy following their own sinful desires and asserting their right to do so that they don’t even seem to care what anyone else thinks. Often times our first instinct is to speak poorly of them, criticize and belittle them for their sinful behavior. Ask yourself this: will that help them know what they don’t know or convince them that they want nothing to do with Christ and His Church? We need to do what we can to share the knowledge of Jesus and His love with them.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

How can we share the Good News with them? What can you do today to let someone know that Jesus has paid for their sins so that they can be forgiven? Something to keep in mind is that this is not a one shot thing. There is no magic formula you can use to automatically convert someone. That is the work of the Holy Spirit anyway. Our calling as followers of Jesus is to tell others about Him so the Spirit can lead them to faith and give them the confidence we have.

John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

They don’t know what they don’t know. But God is not content that they stay ignorant. Quite the contrary.

1 Timothy 2:4 [God] wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Those who have faith in Jesus have it because someone was a light shining in the darkness for them. You are now called to be that light shining in the darkness for others.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Those without Christ don’t know what they don’t know. Lord, help us to share Jesus with them.