Knowing God

When John leads a class, he asks a lot of questions.  When we began studying Isaiah, John asked, “Why study the Prophets?”  There were several responses but not the answer that I was thinking of.  I study Isaiah and the Prophets for the same reason as I study the rest of the Bible—to know God.

How important is knowing God? I’m glad you asked.  The Apostle Paul says that everything else is “dung” (KJV) in comparison and knowing Him is so phenomenal that he desired to share in Jesus’ suffering (Philippians 3:8-11).

God also tells us not to revel in our abilities, intelligence, or possessions but to celebrate the fact that we know Him (Jeremiah 9:23-24, paraphrased).  David got that.  This is why he declares, “Your love is better than life.” (Psalms 63:3).  And hymnist Mary Artemisia Lathbury obviously had a taste of The Heavenly Manna as she penned the words, “Beyond the sacred page, I seek Thee, Lord; My spirit pants for Thee, O living Word,” in her hymn, “Break Thou the Bread of Life.”

We need to know God not only informationally, but we need to know Him personally because we cannot truly love someone we don’t know.

Let us be people who can confidently stand with the Apostle Paul and declare in one accord: “I know whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted Him for that day.” (II Timothy 1:12)