“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests” Hosea 4:6a
What does it mean to really know someone? And I mean to know them well. To know what they are thinking before they even say it. To know if they are upset simply by reading their non-verbal cues that you have come to study and learn. To hear the inflection in their voice and pick up on the emotions that are carefully packed away within their words. Well, I think a simple answer is twofold…time and experience. I mean you can’t really know someone deeply in 5 minutes, right? It takes time spent with them to really learn deeply about them. And during that time spent together, through rich and varied shared experiences, you will run the gamut in the sharing of highs, lows, and everything in between. Of course an easy parallel for me is my Margie. After 27 years at her side, we often find ourselves finishing each other’s sentences or in some sort of mind reading trick, saying exactly what the other is thinking. But this closeness didn’t just magically appear overnight. It came through the sharing of countless hours and minutes, time dedicated to knowing each other through time and experience.
In the last third of the Old Testament we find the books of the minor prophets. Not named so because they are any less important, but merely shorter in length than the books of the major prophets. But regardless of their length, the minor prophets still carry the same message from the Lord. And it’s a message that repeats with monotony through the 66 books contained in the Bible…left to himself and his own sinful heart, mankind is guaranteed to drift away from the Lord into his own self-serving ways. And to correct our sinful course away from the Lord, an about face is needed. In fact, that’s one of the many related meanings of what the word repent means. Rooted in the Greek, repent means to have a “complete and irreversible change of mind, heart, and actions.” That is, a spiritual about face from the sinful direction you were heading. And the books of the prophets are basically a huge warning sign of repentance on the road to personal sinful destruction. A sign that reads, ‘warning, you are heading in the wrong direction, turn around now.’ And within that very warning contained in the book of Hosea we find a powerful reason for just exactly why we can, at times in our lives, find ourselves encountering this warning sign.
“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6
Now herein lies the real question. What is the difference between knowledge of someone and knowing someone. More specifically, what is the difference between just studying the Bible every day versus knowing the One that wrote it. What is the difference of offering up prayers versus truly knowing the One those prayers are being received by? You see, in order to make that 180 degree turn of repentance, you must understand that true knowledge in the Lord is to truly know the Lord. It’s the very act of knowing who God is in your life. It’s the very act of knowing your creator. It’s personally knowing the Almighty God of the universe, the creator of all, the king of kings and the Lord of Lords. And just how exactly do you know Him? Well, through faith that He is exactly who He says He is in His Words to us, can do all He promises He can do, and that His son Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved from the penalty of your sins against His perfectly righteous ways. And then after that faith-fueled salvation moment, the real journey begins…getting to know the Lord as He leads your life daily.
I have a simple question for you. If you are a child of God redeemed by the blood of Christ, how much time do you spend getting to know Him every week? No it’s not a trick question, in fact, it’s beyond simple. Count up the time you spend with the Lord each and every week. Is it only once a week at church? Is it only when you’re in the car and you come across some preaching or Christian music on the radio? Is it only through foxhole prayers as you find yourself in dire straits and desperately need the Lord to help you out of a jam? Or is your honest answer almost none? Wherever you may be in your answer, stop and carefully examine it and realize that just like in daily life, you need time and experience to truly get to know someone. And God is no different in greatly desiring your time to build a stronger relationship with Him as you encounter the varied experiences of this life.
God has a simple fourfold daily pattern for really getting to know Him better and therefore grow in your closeness to Him.
1) Spend time with Him in His Word every day. Yes, you read that right…every day. God speaks volumes to us in His Word but here’s a huge newsflash for you, if you’re not reading it, you’re not getting His message. First, dedicate a specific time each day in a quiet place. Next, open in prayer that the Holy Spirit speak mightily to you through His Word, and then carefully intake His Words to you. And lastly, as you do, be careful to write down or journal what specific message God delivers to you during that time.
2) Be in constant prayer to the Lord. A great prayer life is not simply one long prayer every day, but a thousand small. We are told to “pray without ceasing” and that means the realization that we control nothing in our lives but instead acknowledge that God does control it all. Therefore, call out to Him on any and all situations throughout your day, asking the One that is in control to take control.
3) Desperately seek to be in fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters. The Christian walk was never meant to be a solo act. And the more the evil one can separate God’s sheep, the more vulnerable they will be to his attacks. Spend time daily with strong believers and watch the beautiful act of iron sharpening iron as you share each other’s burdens, hold each other accountable in the Christian walk, and spark each other on into continuing to know the Lord deeper.
4) Be a true servant of the One you follow. Jesus was a servant, He did not come to be served, but to serve. And we are to emulate Him in all we do. Meaning we are to get busy serving others. The quickest way to get out of your problems is to get into helping with somebody else’s. Find opportunities to serve both within and outside of the body of Christ.
Folks, there is big difference between simple knowledge of the Lord and really knowing the Lord. And through the many rich experiences of walking with Him through this life, you can indeed grow greatly in knowing Him. Yet sadly, at the end of many lives, eternity will be laced with a message that defines the grand difference of simple knowledge and truly knowing.
“When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God's message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!’ Then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:22-23, italics mine
Today ensure you don’t just possess knowledge of the Lord, but you actually know Him. And that is, calling Him your Lord and Savior and the leader of your daily life.
Bendiciones ~ Dan
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