I Want to Know You

“Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."”  – John 8:19

 

Her eyes are brown.  She loves the hiking in the mountains and reading a good book while hanging out at the beach. She is a mother of 5 and “Mi-Mi” of 5.  If she could save one beautiful little girl in Haiti, she would do everything should could to make that happen.  She likes to sleep in, yet she’s up at early in the morning to help get her 3 children ready for school and take them.  She runs the school, a non-profit Parent-partner school for 82 home schooled children in and around the Woodlands.  She enjoys her coffee with lots of Pepperment Mocha cream, or a caramel macchiato from Starbucks.  She loves Jesus Christ with everything in her heart and goes out of her way to help others each and every single day.  She has led bible studies, mother’s of pre-school groups and been the teacher of our 3 home-school children.  She wears the hat of a nurse, a chauffeur, school administrator, teacher, coach, and a banker.  She likes Moscado, White Zinfandel from Australia or the Napa Valley and an occasional beer, but most of the time would rather have a tall glass of sweet ice tea.  Her favorite restaurant is Saltgrass Steakhouse, where she likes her steak well done with no pink in the middle.  She also loves baked ziti from Olive Garden if the mood for Italian strikes her.  I love it when she laughs, and I can tell when she is going to cry.  She loves everyone with the same unconditional, what you see is what you get, love.  The incredible woman I refer to is my wife of 31 years - Lisa.  This is the woman I love and I know her very well (or so I think).

We all have relationships with others that can be described in deep details.  You know your spouses, family and friends very well.  You know what makes them laugh and what makes them cry.  You could tell any person you meet on the street how special these individuals are to you.  We spend time with them, learn about their idiosyncrasies and habits.  We are willing to invest in a certain few individuals because we care about them and we want to know them more.  I’m sure you will agree with me in this matter as you look back at those in your life and begin to think about the deep details you know about each of them.

So, I have established that we are all capable of knowing someone if we chose to.  It takes work and effort and a desire to know them.  It takes time, not just studying about them, but spending time with them and learning first hand.  So, with this in mind I can honestly stand here and say with full sincerity; I don’t know God?  Don’t get me wrong.  I know He is my Lord and King and has provided me salvation by His grace through His Son Jesus Christ.  Now, having acknowledged that, I continue to struggle daily with wanting to know Him more.  Accepting God is a statement of faith, trust and belief; but knowing God takes work.  Just as in any relationship, the more you put into it the more you will get out of it. 

If I put 1 spend 3 hours a day with my kids and 3 additional hours a day with my beautiful wife, 2 hours commuting to/from work and 10 hours at the office with my co-workers and try to get at least 5 hours sleep each night that leaves 1 hour a day with my Creator.  Plus add Sunday church service and the occasional Wednesday or Saturday night and I am getting somewhere south of 500 hours a year with God almighty.  We are given 8,760 hours in a given year.  This means I am spending less than 6% of my time getting to know the Lord.  That just doesn’t seem like a plan to build a relationship now does it.

I have the desire to know Him more, but has it become important enough to actually do something about it?  That is the question that is posed for all of us to address.  I propose that the majority of us are in this same boat.  We get swallowed up in the busyness of the day and all of a sudden God is getting our leftovers rather than our first and best.  Today we have homework.  I would like to ask you to take an index card or a piece of paper and write down everything you know about God.  Put it somewhere in a prominent place that you will see everyday.  This will remind you daily of who it is that you serve.  Now, try to add to that list each day.  Can you spend enough time in the Word each day or on the internet learning about God and strengthening your relationship with Him to add one item a day.  I promise you as you learn more about Him your relationship will become stronger, because you see He’s already done His part of the assignment and knows everything about you.  The gap in this relationship rests on your shoulders, not His.



Prayer:
Almighty God,
We want to know You and serve You.  Please forgive our busyness as we allow the daily tasks to steal from our time with You.  Strengthen us Lord, to see You in a more fruitful manner and learn more from You and about You daily throughout this year.  Help each of us become more aware of our relationship and focus our attention on You, for it through You that we are given life.  In Your name we pray – Amen



© Sondove Enterprises, 2019
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com
If you would like to be added to the email distribution please click here: Daily Thoughts