To Know, Know, Know Him…..

“I will meditate in Thy precepts, and have respect unto Thy way.”  Psalm 119:15

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of personal Bible study.  Sitting under the preaching of an anointed man of God and/or hearing the teaching of a gifted Bible teacher are good, but they are only supplemental to digging into God’s word, searching out the truth, and finding answers to life’s dilemmas for oneself.  Depending on someone else to do the “digging” and then pass it on to us is not sufficient to really know the word and know the Author of the word.  How do we know if we are being taught the truth or not if we do not search the scriptures for ourselves?  There are multitudes of preachers on television, but some can mislead us if we are not careful.  In order to separate truth from error, we must know what God’s word says.

Speaking of TV preachers, I have a funny story that was told to me several years ago by a co-worker.  Her grandfather had passed away.  I don’t know his name, but we will call him Harry.  Her grandmother had dementia, and as her family was getting her ready to attend the funeral, she kept forgetting that her husband had died.  They would have to tell her again and again, and each time she would cry and become very sad.  They made it to the church, and in the middle of the preacher’s eulogy, the grandmother blurted out, “Oh Harry, turn off that TV preacher and let’s go to bed!”  Needless to say, the tears that were shed at that moment were tears of laughter.  That funeral was likely one that all those in attendance remembered for a long time.

God desires for us to know Him.  It is very sad to me for a Christian to spend a lifetime and never really know God intimately as the One who loves us and wants us to seek His face and not just His hand.  In his book, “Psalm 23: The Song of A Passionate Heart”, author David Roper wrote:  “Beyond salvation, beyond sanctification, beyond glorification lies the greatest joy of all: the joy of knowing God!  It’s what I was made for.  If I do not know Him, my life is a failure.”  God made us to know Him and to worship and enjoy Him forever, and if we fail at that we have missed our true purpose in life.  Anything less than that can never truly satisfy the heart.

If we plan to spend eternity with the Lord, wouldn’t it behoove us to get to know Him now?  God will reveal Himself to those who diligently seek Him in His word.