I know alot of people. Not that these people are really "important" to everyone else, but I know quite a few people. I’m happy to say that I have some very close friends, alot of good friends, and a boatload of acquaintances that have become a part of my life over the span of my existence. The relationships are different based on quite a few criteria: Time we’ve known each other. Time we spend together. Common interests. Personalities. These are some of the things that bond us together and create the level of closeness that allows us to say "I know them".
If you look at that statement, "I know them", you find that it has multiple meanings within the structure of today’s language. I can say that I know my wife better than anyone because we have a closeness in our relationship that no one else shares. I can say that I know my best friend because we have experienced things together that stand the test of time. I can also say that I know someone that I only see every few years because I have met them or spent an evening with them. Along those same lines I might feel that I know someone that is not a blood relation of mine better than I do my own brother or sister simply because of the amount of time I’m able to spend with this person compared to my birth family. Basically, as long as I’ve had conversation with a person, I can essentially state that I know anyone. There are many levels to "knowing" a person, as many as there are levels of personal relationship.
So what does it mean, then, to "Know God"? Does that mean that we have a close relationship with someone that we don’t feel we can see or touch? Is knowing God actually understanding Him? How do I know that I "Know God"?
These are questions that have been circling the minds of man since Adam and Eve went fruit picking in the garden. It’s one of the most complicated concepts anyone can try to explain. I think we have to decide what a relationship should mean. Do we want to have a relationship where we simply know that God exists or do we want to have an active, interactive relationship that’s continual and growing? The answer to that question would clarify our definitions. It seems that Jesus thought that way, too. If you look at the scriptures you will find him telling the religious leaders of the day that their "knowledge" of God simply wasn’t enough and that the prostitutes would enter heaven before they would. Why? If you looked at the Pharisees you would find people who truly believed what they said and were meticulous about following it. They were sticklers for details, for laws. You were not to have one hair out of place when it came to their interpretation of the Jewish Law. But they spent so much time concentrating on the details that they totally missed the relationship. They knew that God was real, they committed themselves to the laws of the faith, and then they allowed those very laws to replace any connection with God. "As long as I’m doing the right thing I’m ok. I don’t need anything else." They were the ultimate example of working your way into heaven.
I can acknowledge God or I can "know" Him. I can pursue the laws that are laid in front of me or I can pursue the character of my creator. I would have to say that we should choose the latter. Let me put it this way: I can follow the rules that keep my wife or my best friend happy so that I don’t get in trouble. That would allow me to have relationship without any real risk, but it doesn’t have any heart. It is a lifeless relationship that is only good as long as I’ve crossed my T’s and dotted my I’s. On the other hand I can release myself to the risk of a relationship that has to ride the waves of chance and experience where my heart is totally involved and my head takes a back seat. Suddenly I’m at risk. I can be hurt if I’m rejected, but isn’t that the wonder of a true relationship? I might do the wrong things, say something incorrectly and now I have to work at fixing my faux pax. Ah, but the greatness of making up and finding something new that the two of us didn’t know about ourselves before. Maybe we can now strengthen the relationship and grow closer together.
Do you see what I’m saying?
To know God is to experience Him every day. The same as any other "close" relationship that we have. I have to talk to Him, share with Him, care that He’s there. I have to want Him to be there and not just expect Him to show up. I has to hurt if I didn’t think He was going to be with me. I have to get angry when I don’t understand Him and apologize when I realize what He was trying to do.
I have to love Him.
How do I know God? I have to fall in love everyday. That’s cool. And we all know, as Rob Bell likes to say, "Love Wins".
Now that’s a relationship.
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