The Question ‘Do you know the Lord?’
Whether it be in life or the life to come, the answer to this
one question determines the direction and destiny of a persons’ life. Some people
know a lot about Jesus, but the point of relationship is to know Him, to
believe in Him, to trust Him, to obey Him.
He is indeed the Lord, the Saviour of all who ‘call upon Him’. Although
He is so great (the creator of all), He is not a distant , unknowable deity,
but rather by His Holy Spirit, He is the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep,
each one, and can be known by them.
“My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow Me”
John 10.27
This acquaintance with the shepherd is beautifully expressed
in Psalm 23. David the shepherd, looked up, and as a dependant sheep, and said
the “Lord is my Shepherd.”
Another example of this intimacy of the divine with the
creature, is in the story of Mary the sister of Lazarus. Mary was the quieter
one who let the Lord be in charge. When Lazarus her brother died, it was the
Good Shepherd who saw her deep grief and wept with her. This points to the
divine sympathy of the Lord Jesus expressed in human tears. John 11.
In the next chapter, the unmeasurable love of the Great
shepherd is rewarded with the devotion
of the sheep – Mary takes a very expensive bottle of ointment and pours it on
the feet of the Lord Jesus. Judas calculated this use of the ointment to be
waste, but He who knew and appreciated the love of Mary, accepted this token of
worship as the true priority of worship.
Many there are today who claim to follow the shepherd, but few give Him
the true intimacy and devotion of heart for which He longs.
The last book of the Bible has this revealing invitation:
“Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My
voice and will open the door, I will come in to him/her and will eat with him,
and he with Me” Revelation 3:20
I plead with my readers to settle for nothing less.
The seriousness of knowing Him is found in the prophetic
statement of the Lord Himself.
“ Then will he say to them, depart from me I never knew you”
Matthew 7:23
Is it any wonder that the burning ambition of Paul was:
“That I might know HIM........................” Philippians 3:10
johnmckee@internode.on.net
No comments:
Post a Comment