2006-05-22 - Do You Know Him?

Mark 4:41, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

One of the principal teachings of the Christian faith is that salvation in Christ not only grants us forgiveness of our sins, but also brings us into a relationship with God. So my question, "Do you know Him?" Seems fair. Knowing Christ is more than talking about Him. Knowing Christ is more than going to church. Knowing Christ involves a relationship.

We often feel we know someone, when we really don't know them. Let us not make this mistake in our relationship with Christ. We all have seen President Bush on television. If we had to pick him out of a lineup, we would know him. But knowing the President by sight in no way means that we know him. There is more to knowing someone than that. We might go a step further. Perhaps you attend church with so and so, and someone else asks you if you know so and so. Now you have spoken many times with this person, and you might answer that you know them, but what I have in mind here is a deeper knowledge than mere conversation. Knowing Christ is deeper than that, or at least should be.

Maybe you have been invited over to someone's house and had dinner. This certainly is a deeper knowledge, but we can still have dinner with someone and not really know them. Let's jump to the punchline. You are married. Do you know your spouse? I hope so. But there are always still some things you don't know about him or her. Our knowledge of each other, even in marriage, while probably as deep as we can find in life, is still not complete. But what is Paul's desire in Phillipians 3:10? "That I may know Him." Paul sought to gain a deeper and deeper knowledge of Christ. Paul was not satisfied with a foggy knowledge of Christ, but wanted an intimate deep knowledge and fellowship with Christ. Followers of Christ seek His company in the deepest, joyous and most satisfying ways possible this side of eternity.

If you wonder, as the disciples did on the boat in Mark 4:41, "Who then is this?" and you seek as Paul did, to know Him, you are on the right track. Developing and maintaining a relationship with Christ takes time and effort. It is not done overnight. As in any relationship, we grow in our knowledge of each other. It is also something that has to be maintained. We all have those who we once had a deep relationship with, and since have lost touch. The relationship was not maintained, the effort was not extended and the closeness lessened to the point where contact was lost. May this never happen with our relationship with Christ, but rather, may we always be seeking to grow and deepen that relationship that of all our relationships is the most important. May the Spirit work in our hearts, to ever deepen our walk and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

tim@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org