I thought about not doing a blog post for this week. I thought about taking a week off. Not really because I deserve it, but more because I’m lazy. I thought, “Oh, hey! Vision Sunday. People might not expect a post out of this. I could probably get away with not doing one this week.”
That is right, dear readers. Your beloved blogger was going to leave you hanging.
Then I remembered that there are several people who, whether I can believe it or not, actually look forward to my posts every week. And I would hate to leave such kind, supportive people disappointed simply because I just didn’t feel like writing one.
This post is short, but I’m going to talk about something that God’s sort of put on my mind lately.
Sunday morning, Alan was saying something about prayer, so I began thinking about prayer. More specifically, I began thinking about my prayer life. I tried to recall the last time I spent a lot of energy and time on a single prayer. And I’m a little embarrassed and very ashamed to tell you that I couldn’t remember. That’s how long it’s been.
To clarify, I do pray, but it’s not any sort of big deal when I do. I’ll throw up several “Help me, Jesus” or “Bless them, Lord” prayers every day. And if you were to ask me to pray for you or I just felt compelled to pray for you, I would (and do) absolutely do so. But it’s been a while since I’ve prayed in desperation. It’s been a while since I’ve spent some time just talking to God and hanging out with Him.
I haven’t lacked Biblical knowledge or even God-inspired insight. I still get convicted of things and try to right my wrongs. Regardless, I’m still lacking in a very major way.
What God laid on me Sunday was that knowing about God isn’t the same as knowing God.
For example, I’m a huge One Direction fan. I listen to their music, have both tour DVDs and the movie, read about them, watch videos of them and interviews with them. I love them. You may be sitting there thinking that I’m crazy or pathetic, and I’ll be the first to admit that you’re right on both accounts. But it is what it is, and I love them, and I know a lot about them.
As much as I know about them, and as much as I may think or feel like I know them, I don’t. I’ve never physically met them, never verbally talked to them. So technically I don’t know them. If I were to walk up to them, they wouldn’t say, “Hey! There’s our friend Carrie,” because, sadly, such is not the case.
There’s a big difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing them.
I’ve met unbelievers who know the Bible better than most Christians I know, myself included. They know all about what the Bible says and the history of it. Personally, I find it impressive.
As much as they may know about God – His rules and words and habits – they don’t know Him – His love and comfort and grace. They may know what Jesus said to the disciples, but they don’t know what He’s trying to tell them. They may know all about Paul’s relationship with God, but some of them haven’t considered their relationship with God in quite some time.
Knowing about God is well and good, and I strongly encourage it, but it’s not what it’s all about. You have to know Him. Your ability to recall the Ten Commandments isn’t as important as following them. Knowing Jesus’s parables word for word does you no good if you don’t apply them to your life. Knowing how to pray does you no good if you don’t actually do it.
God is a big God and a personal one. He knows you, and He wants you to know Him. The only way that works is to spend time with Him, listening to Him and talking to Him. Yeah, you could slack off and put God in second or third place in your life, but let me tell you now, it’ll only hurt you. And that’s the last thing anyone wants.
By Carrie Prevette
Abstract Church 