DO YOU KNOW JESUS?

To know Him is to love Him above all others.

Eternal Perspectives              by Sally Bair

I met a woman whom I admired so much that I wanted to get to know her better. But circumstances prevented me from further exchanges. Others admired her, too. They shared their good thoughts about the woman and then asked, “Do you know her?” My answer always was, “No, I don’t know her personally, but I hear all about the good things she’s doing so I feel like I know her.”

Sometimes we may feel like we know God, too, through the beauty of nature or the peaceful music of a symphony. But can we trust our feelings? They come and go and are undependable. What brings us up one moment can cause us to plummet the next. The question therefore begs, do we really know God and His Son, Jesus? If so, how do we know Him?

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is in him.” (1 John 2:3-4)

As humans, we’re unable to keep God’s commandments. To love God with our whole heart, soul and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves, we need His help. And as the psalmist says, our help comes from the Lord. We can overcome our human desires, such as putting ourselves before God and others, through His Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.

The value of knowing Jesus surpasses all else. Paul writes: “I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may … know Him and the power of His resurrection.” (Philippians 3:8-9)

We would be wise to take daily inventory of our lives—those things we hang onto and consider too important to lose—so that we too can begin to count all things as rubbish compared to the greatness of God’s mercies.

 Lord, thank You for showing us, through Your Word and Spirit, the knowledge of Jesus. Give us a hunger to know You better, to know You personally and to surrender our selfish will to Yours. Renew our minds so our every thought will be to know You, to worship You and to glorify You. In Jesus’ name, amen.