Knowing

If someone came up to me and said they saw my husband sitting in Starbucks enjoying a latte and reading a book I'd say they were sorely mistaken. Similarly, if someone said they heard Mom was planning on redoing her entire wardrobe in a 70's era I'd emphatically protest. Why? I know them--I know who they are, what they are about, the habits and personalities and characteristics, etc. Are there still things that surprise me? Sure--but by knowing them, their behavior has become predictable. I've spent time, I've been around...the relationship gives a confident confirmation of who I know them to be.

I am currently reading through Ephesians (one of those mornings when I don't know what to read so I turned to the New Testament listing of books, closed my eyes, and my finger landed on Ephesians). This verse jumped out:

17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better".

The "so you may know Him better" was what got me. There was a catchy praise song out several years ago with the title "I Want To Know You" and it used to stir my soul, like,"YEs! I do want to know You better!" In the HBO series Oz, one of the characters, a Muslim, is explaining his religion to another inmate and why he is so devout in his faith. He says with total conviction of Allah, "I want to know him". I think so many "Christians" know "about" Christ/God--we know He is great and good, we know He is love, we can recite a few popular verses from Scripture to back up what we know about Him...Similarly, I can tell you what I know about certain people. My boss is a hard worker, she is driven to success, she has high expectations, her heart is full of compassion...but a lot of that is surface. I don't really know her down to the core even though I've worked with her for 14+ years. One of my brothers in law loves to fish, doesn't like to fly, can grill meat like a champ, and has some great one liners...but I don't know what makes him tick, his convictions, his dreams, his core values...

I think of the one sidedness of my relationship with Jesus sometimes, especially when I pray or read the Word--my lists of requests, my hunger to learn something for ME so I can grow and be a better servant...but relationships and learning about one another are supposed to be reciprocal, yes? I need to listen, I need to dig deep and uncover, I need to explore...Not just read "God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all" but sit back, ponder, meditate, and then BE QUIET and ask, "So Lord, what does that mean? Explain that to me...How are You light and how can I know that of You more?" It's more than knowing about God and surrounding ourselves with the comforts of the attributes we can list...It's working to KNOW Him...so we can respond with confidence when someone tries to refute what we KNOW about Him.