In our digital/electronic age, people can find out information about other people VERY easily (almost too easily perhaps), and people especially know stuff about celebrities such as movie stars, musicians, and sport stars. It seems hardly a day goes by without a news story breaking about some incident that happened in the life of one of these famous persons. And so, people almost get the feeling that they know some of these people because of all the stuff they read about them. That is certainly the case when it comes to celebrities that people are huge fans of. They have photos of them hanging on their walls, they follow their every move. They know who they’re dating, how many kids they have, many of their faults and failures, etc.,. They seem to KNOW EVERYTHING about them. However, because they’ve never personally met the famous celebrity their knowledge about them is just that – a head knowledge. They have no PERSONAL relationship with them.
The same is true with God. Many people grew up in church, followed all of the certain “rituals” of their denomination, read bits and pieces of the Bible, and have seen actors portray God in movies and television. And so, they KNOW all ABOUT God. The sad thing is, many people confuse knowing ABOUT God with having a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with God.
The Bible mentions the VERY SAD situation that many people will face one day when they stand before God. In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus was talking specifically about false prophets and teachers, but He said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)
Notice that even these people who claimed to do God’s work while living here on this earth did not really “KNOW” God. He will say to them, “I never KNEW you!” In other words, He never had a PERSONAL relationship with them. And the same will be the case with many other people who “claim” to be Christians like these people will claim to have been followers of Jesus Christ. If there is NO life-changing personal relationship in your relationship with God, you need to make sure you’re not one of those people who just know ABOUT God.
When we come to God and pray, inviting Him into our hearts and lives, and forsaking our sin – it will have an impact on the way we live.
When a man and wife get married, they don’t just get married and then go on living their seperate lives by themselves. No, they get married, and their lives become ONE. And when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and give Him our lives – we join Him in fellowship and we become a new person IN Him!
In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Just as a man and wife’s lives are changed when they become married, so our lives are changed when we truly have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Now, obviously as it takes time for a new couple’s relationship to grow, it also takes time for our relationship with Jesus Christ to grow. And we will make wrong decisions and choices that affect that relationship. However, the truth is, if we TRULY KNOW Him, our relationship WILL grow, and our life WILL change over time as we study His Word, spend time with Him in prayer, and seek to follow Him.
What about you? Do you just know ABOUT God? Or has your PERSONAL relationship with HIM begun to change your life?