Knowing God

Last night I read a few chapters of Knowing God by J.I. Packer.

It made me realise that although I know a lot about God, I don't know Him well at all; just as you can know much about celebrities without ever knowing them for who they are.

The people who truly know God - they are fearless, full of energy for God, filled with His praise and utterly content in Him. They don't constantly fall with their circumstances into apathy and disappointment. Instead they have 'joy unspeakable' and are 'full of glory' (1 Peter 1:8). They never brood on what they have lost, or what they might have missed, but only on what they have gained. 'But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him...I want to know Christ' (Phil 3:7-10).

I can say...at present...I know Him a tiny bit. I have heard His voice. I have had fleeting glimpses of who He is, that have filled me with this 'joy unspeakable', this unexplainable depth of contentment.

But these moments are far too rare. Somehow I became content to just learn about Him, and I bypass being with Him.

The thought of being with Him is overwhelming right now. The thought of knowing Him. I tremble to think of how it could change me. Am I willing to forsake everything I know now, to know Him?


I am, I am, I want to be!!!