For a long time I have always believed that the key to a relationship with Jesus was about knowing him. Ok you may ask----what exactly do you mean by that? Knowing as in spending time, being in relationship, talking, praying, and generally discussing my day. I can not even begin to count the number of times that I have heard the description of Jesus being your best friend---but BETTER. In other words he is someone who is always there, always listens, and to boot will have final judgment on the plethora of guys who have broken my heart. ;) I too have spoken this encouragement to people and have spent hours just wanting to be in his presence. But today I realized that knowing him does not necessarily mean I KNOW him.
Now I don’t say this to mean that any of the things listed above are wrong. I strongly believe that you NEED to spend time with Jesus in that way and he most definitely wants to know every intimate detail of your life… It is just that I feel I live in a world full of dichotomy. In other words I live in the extremes. So when I am in a season of just being with Jesus I don’t often think about the importance of knowing who he is…. And to be honest that is just plain selfish. And sinful.
In Matthew 22:37 it states “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This commandment is very clear in that we must know him equally with all three parts of own being. When I look back at my life I can see where I have loved him with only one part and left the other two as an afterthought. Although this seems like a step in the process it is not obedience to what Jesus commands.
So I sit here struggling with the fact that I know the nature of his presence, I know the feeling of the Lord’s glory falling on me during worship, I know his comforting hand as he holds my broken heart, and I know the joy he feels when I am basking in his blessings and just sitting at his feet. But what I don’t know is his word. And this thought is both saddening and overwhelming.
When I think about knowing the Bible – I realize the immense nature of that task. Here is 66 books of the Bible each with hundreds of verses that are vital to me knowing who God is which then leads to me knowing myself better which causes me to love him more. A beautiful process, but an overwhelming task. In the time of Jesus women memorized Psalms, Proverbs, and Deuteronomy! I am good to know a couple of verses from each and even then the address would be a little shaky.
So all this to say I want to KNOW the Lord with the same gusto that I seek to know him. I want there to be balance in the way that I love him. I want it to be just as Matthew says to love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind. I want a connection between what I know in my heart and what I know in my head. And I want that connection to impact the way I live my life.
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