Occasionally we hear or read about someone accused of committing
a heinous crime, and a friend or family member defends the person, stating, “Well,
I know so-and-so, and he/she would never do that.” Do they know for certain? We just experienced a very contentious
Presidential election, ending with many of us voting for the candidate we “knew”
would be best for the job.
Have you
ever attended a wedding ceremony, watching the couple exchange their vows, and thinking,
“Man, they really don’t have any idea what they’re doing!” Because the fact is,
no matter how long a courtship is, two people never really know each other until they begin to permanently live under the same
roof. Even then it typically takes years to genuinely know the other
individual.
Watching
the news, or entertainment shows, we think we know a certain celebrity or
dignitary – but we don’t. We only know what’s presented to us, what we perceive
from outward appearances, and what others say about them. Do we really “know” the
Kardashians? Or Princess Kate? Or Morgan Freeman?
During the
election campaign, what we knew about
Trump, Clinton or Sanders was largely what the news media carefully and
selectively offered to us. But we couldn’t honestly say we knew them. For instance,
what’s their favorite color? Favorite food? Musical preferences? Do they snore?
Boxers or briefs?
There is
only one sure way of knowing a person, any person. That’s to spend time with
them. The more time spent with them, usually the better we get to know them. We
can observe someone at work and think they’re wonderful. We might hear a persuasive
speaker and think, “Wouldn’t it be fun to be that person’s close friend?” But
as many of us have painfully discovered, outward appearances can woefully
deceive. Only when we spend time with people do we discover what they’re actually
like.
How about
knowing God? What does it mean when we declare, “I know the Lord”? Maybe one
time we walked an aisle, raised a hand, or marked a card to indicate a
commitment to Jesus Christ. But do any of those acts signify having an
intimate, everyday relationship with Him?
I can think
of several people who would tell you they “know” God, but evidence in their
lives would attest to the contrary. Saying we know doesn’t necessarily mean we
know. As the Bible tells us, “You believe
there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder” (James 2:19).
And the Scriptures assure that we won’t be troubled by demons in heaven.
Knowing God in the redemptive, life-transforming way means much more than
intellectual knowledge or belief.
To me, to
know God is similar in some ways to knowing a spouse or cherished friend. We want
to spend time with them; we do spend time with them, and over time, we come to
know them better and better.
Relationships
– human and spiritual – don’t grow through hit-and-miss, casual interactions. They
require not only time, but also the investment of ourselves. We want to be with
those we love, to the extent that we miss them dearly when we’re not with them.
Psalm 63:1
describes what this can look like for someone who truly knows the Lord and
desires to be with Him. “O God, you are
my God, earnestly I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in
a dry and weary land where there is no water.” This psalm, attributed to
King David, communicates a deep, intense yearning to be in the presence of the
God he knew and trusted. No wonder he’s described as a man with “a heart after
God” (Acts 13:22), despite his grievous lapses into sin.
In many
respects, like David, we’re living in a “dry and weary land,” at least in a
spiritual sense. All the more reason we should thirst and long for time with
the Lord, whether through prayer and time reading and studying the Scriptures,
associating with like-minded believers, or seeking to be active participants in
His work here on earth.
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