3 But the man who loves God is known by God.
Known by God! Doesn’t God know everything? I know about Osama bin Laden, but I have never met him personally. He has, none the less, had a profound effect on my life. I have had the privilege of playing in a large sandbox because of that radical ideology. I have read things that he has written, smelled the results of explosives that he espouses, witnessed the carnage that takes the lives of the innocents. I pay my taxes to keep him at bay. I put on the uniform to protect my family and my way of life. And yet I have never met him personally. Many people have never met God personally. They have been profoundly affected by His influence. Science, art, music, medicine, literature and so many other things are the result of thinking men and women wanting to discover God’s design in this world. Believers were driven to explore beyond their knowledge in an effort to demonstrate God’s plan. We as a culture live under a moral and legal code that grew out of that shared life of faith. The ‘knowing’ God wants is an intimate knowledge, one that has grown out of the personal experience of ‘being there’ when we needed Him. When testing and trial come, we reach out to Him and He responds. Those dark valleys receive the subtle light of His presence. We feel the whisper of reassurance deep in our being. If we turn toward God, He is already turned toward us, reaching out and providing the connection. When Jesus voluntarily exchanged His life for our death, the possibility of a personal knowledge, a friendship, a familial connection became a reality. Do you just know about God, or is there a connection born out of having met personally? I challenge you toward that personal connection. Don’t settle for reading the headlines. Get to know the fullness offered in Jesus.
The Arnold Journey 