This is Why It’s So Important to KNOW God
Inside: It is so important to know God because He LOVES you
and wants the best for you!
But not only that . . .
Does your relationship with God slip into one that’s more about doing than knowing Him?
You mean well. You just have so many on your list whom you’re trying to appease. Sometimes it’s easier to make a to-do list to cover everyone’s needs.
But when you do that, one-on-one time with real connections don’t really happen, do they? It’s easier to do something than connect when you’re juggling too many balls.
And I totally get it
because I write from my own struggles.
But there’s a verse in the Bible that used to scare me.
It’s when Jesus says,
“Depart from Me, I never knew you.“
(Matthew 7:23)
That one line showed me why it’s so important to know God.
But here’s the thing, God knows everything. So, I figured I might as well be real with Him.
In any relationship, intimacy is key, right?
What if you were never real with your husband, your kids, or your parents? It wouldn’t be much of a relationship, would it?
It’s the same with Jesus.
Instead of freaking out over things like this, I decided to walk them out with Him. And every time I do, He brings me to a place of peace.
And I know He’ll do that for you, too!
It’s always super important
to look at context when you are reading the Bible.
I had a pastor. And I bet he said this every Sunday at least once,
“Any text taken out of context is merely pretext.”
People can twist the meaning of things (and they often do) when they do not share them in the context they were originally intended.
And that doesn’t just happen with a verse from the Bible.
That’s why I’m glad my pastor said that so often because it’s like I keep saying, when we want to get something deep down in our spirits, repetition is a good way to do it!
So, let’s look at the context of this potentially scary verse.
Who was Jesus talking to when He said it?
It turns out, this was His final warning in His Sermon on the Mount. It’s there that Jesus said,
“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 in Your name perform many miracles?’”
(Matthew 7:22)
What we can tell by these words is that Jesus is talking to people who claim to be His disciples because they are doing the things He does.
So then, why does He say He never knew them?
He says that because He knows their hearts.
He knows they are only pretending to be His disciples.
But that’s not scary to us because
we’re not just claiming to be His disciples,
we’re also aiming to do so, right?
That’s two different things!
But if you’re thinking,
I don’t think I do know Jesus,
not like I think He wants us to know Him.
That’s not a bad thing! We can always get to know Jesus better than we do. And I think He wants that.
Think about it, the God of the universe wants a relationship with us. That’s pretty wild, isn’t it?
Seriously, check out these verses. In the Bible, over and over in all different ways, He talks about wanting to get to know us.
So, no matter where we are in our walk with God, if we want more, what do we do?”
We just ask.
Don’t you think that’s a prayer
God loves to answer?
Thank you, Daniel Xavier, for sharing your photo.
And what a super cool season we’d have after that!
James 4:8 says,
“If you draw near to God, He WILL draw near to you.”
Grab hold of that promise and run with it, baby!
Because again, don’t you know that God wants that even more than we do? He wants to lavish His love on us and fill us with wisdom to empower us to live this life in a far better way than we could ever do on our own.
Let’s do it!
Dear God,
I don’t know why,
but sometimes the idea of
getting closer to You is scary.
And the idea of giving up
what we want to do
also freaks us out.
But every time I’ve chosen Your way,
it has ALWAYS been better.
Thank You!
Help us to choose Your way.
Related Posts: Does God Love Me?
1 Quick Way to Help You Hear God Better Today
If God Says I Can Hear His Voice, Why Don’t I?
How Do You Ditch Your Angst?
