Do we really know?

I just got slapped in the face.  Just now, I’m serious!

O.K., so not literally (though I guess I’m sure it could be possible that I should be, and some might think it was funny)  

But I did figuratively.

About two weeks ago (very end of April) the email went out, talking about submissions for the newsletter and (sorry Deb) I kept putting it off unsure of what I felt led to write about.  But today (Monday the 13^th) I set aside the afternoon to get this done.  For the last couple hours (seriously) I have been looking over notes from lessons in youth group the last several months about what I could write about but nothing stuck out to me.  Next came the paging through books I had read over the last several years, looking at highlighted parts but still to no avail.  As a last resort I turned on my Kindle (which I hadn’t done since the Jr. High Retreat in January) and BAM!  I read the most recent “highlight” in a book I forgot I even had.  Instantly my mind started racing with thoughts and, believe it or not, apologies to God.  What had I just re-read you might wonder?  Here it is:  “…And then I raised The Question:  Did we – did I – know Christ more as a result of the passing of another year?  Were we any closer to God?”  (Glenn Packiam – Secondhand Jesus)

What an amazing question to ask.  

Do we? Do you? Do I? Know Christ better today than we did a year ago?  

Or do we “know him” just the same as we did before?

I sure hope not!

We as humans have the natural desire to be in relationships with one another.  God made us that way.  One of the ways to build relationships with one another and to know people better is to spend time with them, to talk with them, and to listen to them.  The learning will never stop either.  Every week I continue to learn new things about the youth of this church.  Even after 5 years, there are still so many things that we have yet to learn about each other.  Marriages are the same way.  You continually learn about one another, likes, dislikes, things that have changed, and new hopes they have… that is how relationships work!  You spend time with, you talk to, and you listen.  If someone was to ask me about my best friend and I was to tell them Chris Chelios they would more than likely laugh at me. Why would they?  Well, what would make him my best friend?  The fact that I walked into a Family Fare and unbeknownst to me, he was there ringing the bell for the Salvation Army and I got a picture with him?  (True story by the way)  The fact of the matter is; I know Chris as well now as I did then. 

Who is your best friend?  

 Are there things about him that you didn’t know a year ago that you know about them now? 

 I would certainly hope so.  

 I know there are many things I know about my friends now that I didn’t know about them then. 

So, how about Christ?  Our friend, our Holy Father, our ultimate Savior!  Do you know him any better today than you did a year ago?  

Have you tried to get to know him better?

Do you really want to know him “any better”?

Have you “allowed” him to get to know you better?

Is he any closer to you and your heart?

There is so much in the Word that he has left for us to read and to uncover about him.  So many different ways that he reveals himself to us through people and creation. 

He spends time with us, He talks to us, and He listens to us

Are we doing that for him?    Are you?   Am I?