To Know and To Be Known

Prayer   Lord God, I thank you for your unfailing love. You are a merciful God, slow to anger and  abounding in love.  Awesome Father, I pray that we will know you and that you may open the  eyes of our hearts to what it means to be known by You. Loving Master, restore to us  salvation's joy that our lives may be filled with an overflow of You. Please help us to boast in  only in You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. To Know and To Be Known by Veronica Garrett   Not Everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers! Matthew 7:21-23 We have all met the type of people who like to drop names of their affiliation with important people.  They are the types who usually don’t have a real connection with the famed or celebrated personalities, but in their search for significance they bask in the glory of the most noteworthy person they know.  However, the celebrated person doesn’t really know them. Although modern media has made this more attainable, it’s not a new thing.  From the early days of Jesus’ ministry there were those who claimed to know Him and yet he declared He never knew them.   We know that Jesus is omniscient; He is all knowing so he is not referring to a lack of awareness of the person.  To be known in this case is to have a relationship with Him. They had not accepted Him as Lord and Savior. Quite honestly we meet people today who will tell you they know the Word and they know Jesus but when asked have they accepted Him as Lord and Savior it is here they fail the essential of what it really means to know and to be known by Him.  They know about the Word and they know about Jesus but know him they do not.  If we are not careful we will allow those closest to us to think that due to some legacy of faith and generational commodity they have inherited what it is to know and be known. How often do people say I’ve been Christian as long as I can remember? I grew up Christian…When this happens we must persuade them to think harder to a point of exchange—When did Christ become their Redeemer? When did He become your Savior? Maybe he never has but we should compel them to come to know Him and be known by Him today. To know and be known is not due to my generous service or monetary giving. In most cases my service and giving preceded or succeeded it.  Many people have participated in church service all of their lives and spent great energy on religious tradition but die without knowing Him. They can give testimony of all that Christ has been to everyone else except self-- they have no relationship with Him. All mankind is God’s creation but not all are His children. I believe this is by far the greatest blessing in the life of the Christian, to known and to be known by Him.   Social networking gives a real picture to our desire to know and be known. Quite honestly I can be overwhelmed by the constant feed from hundreds of friends on the internet. Who’s in the grocery store, on their way home from work or Wal-mart at times can at times be just plain tedious.  And yet, there is one who delights in each of us even to the numbering of the hairs on our heads. My mom was still calling me the baby and He was well aware of my name. In fact, before I was formed in her womb He saw me.  I too have this overwhelming need to know and be known but there is only One who can answer my enormous need.  Guilty I am of sharing the tedious with Him and I find great pleasure in what it means to know and be known by Him. He answers my questions before I voice them and He shows Himself to be worthy of all my praise.  The relationship of knowing and being known by God does not make me self consumed. Quite the contrary, it humbles me to a posture of praise. I am convinced that the greatest gift in life is to know and to be known by Him.