If you have known me, you will know my Father too. And from now on you do know him and have seen him. (John 14:7)
I wondered if a guy I knew in college would be interested in our friendship after thirty years. Oceans of life had pushed our continents apart. Did we even know each other anymore?
When I reached out, I heard the same cheerful voice I knew in college. Of course, I knew this guy—my old friend, Dave. We’d both changed, but I recognized his one-of-a-kind heart within seconds.
In Luke 13, Jesus said admission to God’s feast will be conditional on knowing the master. He warned us that many will knock and the banquet master will reply, “I don't know you or where you come from.”
Do I truly know Jesus?
The Lord told his apostles that they did know him and, therefore, knew his Father, too. But they ate and lived with Jesus. Me, not so much.
Judas, the betrayer, touched and spoke with Jesus, yet he never truly knew him, not the true essence of who he was. That lost soul didn’t understand Jesus’s heart. It doesn’t matter that I live in a different place on history’s timeline. I still have a chance to know the real Jesus, unlike Judas, who never did.
To know Jesus, I must go past my five senses, past my intellect, and press my heart into union with him. I must exchange my pettiness for his love. I have to hunger for his righteousness and seek to assimilate his teachings into my life.
By engaging Jesus in my inmost being, I come to know him more profoundly than any physical experience. I recognize his one-of-a-kind heart, full of love, humility, and joy.
Prayer: Awesome Jesus, thank you for allowing me to know you truly.