My #1 Relationship

Is it just me, or is today extra beautiful? Okay, maybe I'm seeing it through color-enhancing lenses. Yep, for those of you who read my blog, here's a special bit of personal news--Michele and I have just become engaged to be married! There is a God in heaven! I'm really pumped about what he's done for us. He's turned my mourning into dancing for sure! (See last post.) So please pray for God to open the doors that need to be opened for us quickly.

This blog is all about having conversations with God through reflections on Scripture. Well, today we get to listen in on an actual conversation between God and God--the Father and Son, that is. Check it out in John 17:1-5. This is holy ground and well worth reading several times.

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (v. 3)

I think it bears asking, what does knowing someone really mean? What about when it comes to God? I need to ask because people often get disappointed with wrong ideas about it, thinking that it has to be a mystical experience. Or we just stay frustrated, in the dark about what that really looks like. I mean, how do you “know” someone you can’t see or touch or hear talking to you?
The whole story of Scripture teaches us how to know God. All those stories—they aren’t there just to give us a Judeo-Christian historical sketch. The stories of people are case studies or models that clue us in on how to know God. The details vary in each case, but the same relational dynamics run through them all:

#1 God revealing himself, pointing the person in a different direction.
#2 The individual deciding to trust God, accepting whatever changes that would mean to life as they knew it.
#3 Their stepping out in faith, and finding that God went with them. At that point he became very personal to them.

In many ways, God has pulled back the curtain and said, “It’s me. This is who I am.” All we have to do is look around us at the unfathomable universe he’s created and open up his Word to discover the story of his love and the purpose he has for us, and begin our own adventure of faith. He's become so real to me through the many steps I've taken over the years just to understand his heart and be open and responsive to his leading.

In short, to know Jesus is to believe him. To believe him is to love him. And to love him is to obey him. And the more I trust what he did, love who he is, and obey what he says, the more deeply and personally I know him.

God, thank you for loving me and wanting to be known by me. I realize this is the first and greatest purpose of human life. Today, I want to take a small (or big) step to know you and love you a little more. Amen!

Your feedback is always meaningful to me, and your own reflections are welcome. Use the comments section below. And if you don't know how to sign in and comment, click on the link at the top right column. I hope you'll share this post with your Facebook friends (click the "f" icon). Peace.