May He Not Be Unknown To Me

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary. Psalm 63:1-2

If someone told me that I would be taking someone into my home for the next twenty-five years, I would pause. Who are they? What are they like? Can this person be trusted? Will our personalities clash? Setting out to find the answers, I’ll research him well. Then, if possible, I’ll ask for several face to face meetings to see if what I’ve heard bears true when in this person’s presence

If I would do this much for someone who would live with me for two decades, shouldn’t I do far more for someone with whom I’ll live for an eternity? Especially knowing that this person gave up everything so that I could eventually be with Him. I was banned from this possibility because of my sin, He knew that, and made a way for me to come home to Him. Very costly to Him personally, I might add.

Yet, I can be full of excuses when it comes time to invest in the relationship. God remains very much a stranger if I don’t take the time to know Him and spend time with Him. Unless I do love-driven research and ask Him to draw me close in prayer, I won’t have any experience of Him. Knowing that He is merciful and knowing how He is merciful to me are two different things. By the time I get to heaven, I should have had thousands of encounters and a myriad of shared experiences.

Wouldn’t it be a bit embarrassing to get to heaven, meet Jesus, and know almost nothing about Him?   Wouldn’t it be sad to have nothing to review? “Lord, remember when….” should encompass the first hundred years of eternity.

“Lord, remember when you rescued me in 1997?”

He nods and then asks, “And remember when I asked You to trust me when it looked like you couldn’t? I was so proud of you.”

I’ll nod ~ ever grateful that, in this life, I didn’t miss out on making memories.

“Oh Jesus, and My Father, and Holy Spirit inside ~ let me know You and take part in Your slow dance. Amen