I recently saw something on social media that made me smile. It was a picture of a cross with a caption that said “I can’t, but I know a guy!”. It bore such an incredible truth of how much we can’t do for ourselves/others and what a privilege it is to be able to point to the One who is ABLE.
As I pondered this, I had an additional revelation. I thought of the saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” While I like the saying, I find it a little lacking. Perhaps it should read “It’s not what you know, it’s who knows YOU.” I am ashamed to admit what I know about my favorite sports teams, their players, and their coaches. I can tell you what I perceive to be their strengths and weaknesses, their hometowns, and what “needs” to be done to improve their performance. I say all of this to say, while I know a lot about them, I do not know them, and they certainly know nothing about me, or even that I exist. So, while I “know them”, is it really of any value?
On the backdrop of my mind train, my lovely bride and I had the opportunity to join some friends at an event they were hosting. We wandered up to it and came across a gatekeeper. “Excuse me, this is a private event.” We replied with our friends’ names and no dice. We still couldn’t go in. Then the gatekeeper asked, “What are your names?” We answered, and lo and behold, our names were on the list of people who had been invited to attend. The figurative velvet rope was dropped, we joined our friends and enjoyed the day.
The experience was great and is a great metaphor for our relationship with God. The Master of all space, time, and dimension knows us! Knows you! Jeremiah 1:5 promises that God knew us before we were born. Psalm 139 provides a litany of the multiple ways that God knows literally everything about us and everyone else as well. Matthew 10:29-31 reveals that God knows us down to the hairs on our heads and that he puts extraordinary value on us. So with our warts and all, Romans 5:8 shows the extreme nature of God’s love and grace to us: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Let’s rejoice in the fact that we serve a God of relationship!!! Because we know Him, we will always be welcomed into His presence. From now until forevermore. He wants to write our name in the “lamb’s book of life”, spend time with us in prayer, and teach us from His Word. He wants us to grow to be more and more like Him. Take heart knowing it’s not just that you know God, it’s that God knows you!!!
