10/10/26
How well do you know God?
I know a man who is a networker. He considers it his greatest ability. Everywhere he goes, he attempts to meet people and learn about them. Then he files them away in his memory as friends. If something comes up where they might help, he reaches out.
He uses their name to meet other people. By mentioning them as a friend, he can meet other people who do the same. If you are ever talking to him and have an issue, he will say I have a friend who can help you with that. Then he will call them, acting like they are good friends. They are too embarrassed to say I don't remember you. He will drop names of their friends, appearing to be close to them. Doing so, he gets them to help with your need.
The thing about this guy is he truly believes it. He has convinced himself that he is close friends with all of these people. However, if you drop his name in conversation with many of his "close friends," they do not know whom you are talking about, or they vaguely remember him calling needing something. I know this from experiencing it on more than one occasion since I came to know this man.
I feel sorry for him because he truly is a caring person who just doesn't understand true friendship.
Now, to why I have brought him up. There are a large multitude of people who think they know Jesus just because somebody introduced them to Him at some point. Like the man I know, they believe that they have a relationship with Him because they know who He is. They have even named themselves after Him (Christian) because they think they are that close to Him. However, all they have is knowledge of them. Jesus, when praying on the night He would give His life, said this: John 17:3 NASB95: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Eternal life, living in the state of eternity, is knowing God the Father and Jesus the Son. Jesus says, "that they may 'KNOW' You," speaking of God the Father.
According to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, the word know suggests the act of knowing rather than knowledge as such. This act embraces every organ and mode of knowledge, e.g., by seeing, hearing, investigating, or experiencing the person.
I would explain it to you as: It is not just knowledge of God; it is being His child. Having the relationship of a baby being in complete need of their parent for survival. Finding complete security in their arms, full peace in the sound of their voice, joy in the sight of their presence, and rest in the smell of their breath.
This and even more is what it means to "KNOW" God as Father and Jesus His Son as Lord and Savior.
You can be like the man I know and have knowledge of God. You could be introduced to Him. You might seek Him for Help. You might even promote Him and His work, thinking it is building your relationship, but if you don't have intimacy, like a caring, loving parent to a child who realizes their need for the parent, then you don't know God or His Son! Jesus warns us of this in the Gospel of Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
"I never knew you." Jesus is saying, I will declare that I never knew you because you never have truly known my Father as Father and me as Lord and Savior. Knowing them is to know Eternal life!
Please, I say to all today. From the deepest corners of my soul, make sure you know Him, not just have knowledge of Him.
Lord God, please convict any and everyone who reads this devotional who does not have a true relationship with you as Father and child, that they would reach out to you today. I pray that they, with all earnestness, would seek to know you, call on you, and have eternal life. I ask this, trusting with complete faith in you and your Word. Romans 10:13: for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
In Jesus name. Amen.
Praying for your relationship with God, and that you will fellowship with Him and His family in Church tomorrow.
Love, Brother Scott.