What God wants for his children, ultimately, is to know Him. To cherish Him above all else and be completely dependent upon Him.
His desire isn’t that they know about God. His ultimate desire isn’t that they have acted morally throughout life, following the path laid down in the Bible for us. It isn’t ultimately that they have been a steward of what he has given them, responsibly procuring wealth and security and generously giving it away, as unto the Lord.
It isn’t doing/not doing a lot of things of which God says in his Word that He DOES delight in. I am not arguing these things are bad. I am pointing to what I believe the pinnacle of what God wants for us is, which is to KNOW HIM.
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God…” Those are the first 4 words of the Bible and they focus on God. Before anything, there was God. Everything in the Bible is focused on God. What we as Christians need to be reminded of a million times every day is that our lives, this world, the Bible, evangelizing, EVERYTHING, is…about…God.
God created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden so He could have a relationship with them as their Heavenly Father. They knew God, yet it wasn’t enough to keep them from sinning. Which is why God uses all those other things, to sanctify us and keep us pursuing Him, keep us pursuing Him.
Do not miss the difference between all of these things and knowing God: These things focus on us, not God. They focus on what we do, how we do it, and our mindset in it. These are things that God wants to use and are absolutely necessary to sanctify us and to break us of our sinful ways and in the end, make us holy as God is Holy.
I believe a lot of Christians, – Yes, Christians – can go through their life doing these things and doing them in true faith, yet, not know God. Christians can go day in and day out not living in a way that proclaims they believe that God loves them.
If we knew God, we would know He loves us! We would know and believe that all the things in the Bible where God talks about himself were absolutely true. I think of the great men of the Bible such as Moses, Abraham, David, Noah, Joshua, Aaron, Paul, Peter, and many more who lived lives that were radical! They acted in all the ways people today talk about striving to act: Walking in faith, giving everything to God, being content in all situations, exhibiting love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I believe the reason they were so incredible is because they knew God and believed completely that He loved them! That in the good, the bad, and everything in between, God was in control and whatever was happening was for their good.
We as Christians cannot underestimate the effects of pursuing God with the intention of learning to know Him. Not only the effects in terms of the changes that occur in our actions, but also in our desires. The pull of sinful desires pale in comparison to the knowledge of the love our Father God has for us.
It overcomes our desires of pride, selfishness, ambition, and other forms of idolatry, with the call of our Father that beckons,
“Come to Me. I love you. No…don’t try to fix that yourself, just come to Me. Just trust Me. No… stop that. You know that without Me you are gonna fail right? Just come. I love you, because I love you… because I love you. It’s not about what you did, or anything you could possibly ever do. It’s not about if you are worthy enough. I love you, because I love you. Just come to Me. Cast your burdens upon Me. I promise I will satisfy you. Only I can make you truly happy. All you need to do is come to Me.”
This is the heart of the Gospel! This is the heart of God! This is what changes lives. When we truly believe that God loves me! God who created the Heavens and the Earth, Loves me!
Christians, I urge you to refine your focus. More than anything, God wants you to learn to know Him, cherish Him, and come to Him. And He promises there and only there, will the life you desire to live in Christ, be possible.
“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:36
AMEN! Beautiful. This reminder truly nourished my soul!