Practical Atheist - Part 4

I'm just now getting around to writing my church post! We wrapped up our Practical Atheist series by talking about:

I believe in God, but I don't know Him.

Alot of people know of God, but don't really know Him personally. When you do know Him, you can't help but be in awe, you can't be lukewarm, and you won't worship other things while just using God.

What does it mean to know God? Some of us try to make a great first impression with God. We clean up our act, show up to church. It's kind of like how you are with that first date and the way those relationships evolve. You try to make your best impression. But, you're non-committal. You're just checking out the other person. You know about them and are in that flirty phase. But, they haven't impacted your decisions. Your life doesn't change just because you now know them. But, then you start spending time together, doing life things together. That creates intimacy and then your relationship grows. You then know each other on a deeper level. You can relate this new relationship to your relationship with God.

His desire is to know you and you to know Him, not just believe in Him. It's more than believing He exists. It's more than living in a Christian nation and having all of the Christian things. 1 John 2:3-4 says that if you know Him, you will obey and if you say you know Him, but do not obey, then you are a liar. Do you obey? If not, maybe you're lying to yourself. Having knowledge about God is not the same as knowing Him in your heart. It's just knowledge. You have to have that relationship with Him to know Him.

Matthew 7:21-23 makes it clear that saying you know the Lord and actually knowing Him are two different things. If we don't have a relationship with Him, He says that He will say, "I never knew you." It is no different than knowing everything about your favorite celebrity, meeting them and getting an autograph, and then saying you know them. If you were to run into them again, they would not remember you, and it's because you don't have a relationship with them.

Alot of times, we serve the gospel of morality. We live by the rules, but that's just something we do. We haven't really changed and it hasn't transformed us. We believe God, but don't know Him well. We are informed about Him, but not transformed by Him. The same struggles you had before should not be the same ones you have after you know Him.

We should know Him intimately and serve Him wholeheartedly. Once you know Him, it's a daily surrender. It's everyday life, not just on Sunday. It's understanding He is with you. Your heart and your desires change. You're more responsible with your blessings. The more you know Him, the more you become aware of your sin as He sees it. You see the great picture He's involved you in. David was called a man after God's own heart, and in Psalm 63:1-4, he says that understanding His love is better than life.

Our Pastor gave a good analogy. He was talking about how what you call a person kind of shows how well you know them. For instance, our Pastor's name is Jeff. But, he said if someone calls his house and asks for "Jeffrey", then he automatically knows that they don't know him at all, because everyone who knows him knows that he goes by "Jeff". If they call him "Pastor Jeff", then he knows that they have some idea of what he does, but still don't know him because no one at church calls him "Pastor Jeff". We just call him "Jeff". Now, there are some who know him deeply and call him "Daddy". So, what you call him reveals how well you know him. What do you call God? Savior? Counselor? Rock? Friend? Redeemer? Rescuer? Father? Lord?

Those who call Him by name, trust in Him. If you don't trust Him, maybe you don't really know Him. How do you get to know Him? It's easy - you seek after Him. He promises to reveal Himself to those who seek after Him. It's not a class you go to, a prayer you pray. Seek Him, open the Bible, and listen for His voice. His greatest desire is to know you. In fact, He proved through the cross that He would rather die than to not know you.

Our Pastor said that his greatest prayer for us comes from Ephesians 1:17-19:

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe."

He gave another great example of something that his daughter said on the way to church that morning. She had her watch on and she told him that now they could all know what time it was, since they were all wearing their watches. And when he asked her what time it was, she said something like "thirty o'clock". You see, she is 6 and cannot tell time. The point is, you can have a watch, but still not know what time it is. There is a difference between going to church and really knowing Him, just like there's a difference between having a watch and being able to tell what time it is.

Do you know what time it is?