I know Hillary Kunz. I can tell you what she likes and what she does not like, I can tell you how much she loves chocolate and banana pancakes, or how she always eats the scraps on my plate because she does not want anything going to waste, I can tell you her fears and the little things that make her smile, I can tell you how much she loves the outdoors, or how she gets ridiculously competitive sometimes...I know her because she is my best friend.
Sometimes, I just wish I knew Jesus like that.
I wish I knew His stories like I know Hillarys and my own, I wish I could talk about Jesus like I know how he reacts to things and what he delights in and what he hates, where he spent his time and what his friends were like. I wish I knew His smell and what His voice sounded like. I want to know Him like I know myself and I know my best friends, but it feels like I cant.
Then I remember...
Our culture sometimes makes me feel like you cannot talk about Jesus unless you are a scholar, like the Bible is the beginning and end of knowing Jesus. But, honestly, I feel like I could not pick up the Bible and really understand it until I had established the relationship I have with Him. As amazing as the Bible is and as thankful as I am for it and as much as I get out of it–I believe my God is bigger than any book and he can communicate with me and tell me all the wonderful Truths about Him and the world and myself without ever having seen the Bible. Would it be different? Totally. Would it be harder? Probably. Do you think he could still use me? No doubt.
By saying our God is limited to a tangible relationship we are dangerously limiting Him to human nature, when really He is so much more than that.
"For the things that are seen are transient, but the things unseen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18) The man Jesus was "transient"-temporary; fleeting; lasting only for a short time....BUT the unseen Jesus, the Jesus who returned to the heavenly realms, He is forever. We can never lose Him.
He was fully human, yes, but He was also fully God.
The tangible things in our lives, even relationships with others, are puppets God works through to help us grow. But when we conclude tangible things are directly God Himself, we seriously risk those things becoming idols in our lives.
I think God delights in us by showering us with intangible things, when we expect worldly and touchable gifts. God does not give us big houses and cars when he delights in us, but instead offers us opportunities to know Him more through all things even relationships. It is not until the fullness of time that Jesus will unite all things together and finally we will know Him.
Jesus cannot be limited to One person because "He is before all things and in Him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:17)
The more we come to know Him, the more captivated we are by Him and the harder it is to take our eyes off of Him. Lord, help us to see and to know you more. Let us fix our eyes on you and then we will know your delight.
Do you think you have to know alot about scripture to be a good follower of Jesus?
What about the Christians who do not own Bibles?
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like it I never had one.
No comments:
Post a Comment