Photographer - Ramona Adams
I didn’t always want to know God. In fact, I ran from him for quite some time. All I really understood about him was that he would not tolerate sin. Since I knew I was a sinner, I was doing all I could to avoid him. Like the prodigal son, my ultimate intention was to get away from him if I could.
Then, the Lord God began to make himself known to me, and as I began to understand more about him, I started wanting to know him. Here are several things about this amazing God that caused me to desire to be acquainted with him and why I hope you will too:
1. The Fact that He is Our Creator
Talk about a VIP! There is no one more important than the Lord our God: no King or Queen, star entertainer or athlete, politician, rich person; no one with great beauty or personality could usurp the importance of having a personal relationship with our magnificent Creator. What wisdom is his, what knowledge! “How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out.”
Most adopted children, when grown, will want to know their biological parents because they want to know where they came from and find the answer to: “What makes me tick?” Wouldn’t we also want to know our Creator?
As our Creator, he also wants to help us:
Thus says the LORD who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you:[i]
2. The Fact That He Knows Us Best
We are told in the Psalms:
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.[ii]
Understanding that God knows all about us can be daunting if we’re running from him but if we return to him, he will be the first to meet us on the path home.[iii]
I am amazed in the fact that no one knows us completely as the Lord does, yet no one loves us like he does either.
3. The Fact That He is Good.
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.[iv]
Just how good is God? Nobody has ever found that out yet. But here’s what I do know:
He is kind and gracious to every person in this life no matter if they believe in him or not. “He makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”[v] and he “is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”[vi] “He is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.[vii]” “He left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”[viii]
I can tell you something about how good God has been to me. I have never gone one single day without at least something to eat. Some may have but that doesn’t make God any less good. Even those who have experienced great tragedies in life such as the death of a loved one – maybe a child – have still experienced some measure of God’s goodness every day of their lives. I had some days when I questioned whether God was there or if he really cared yet I know that he is and does.
4. I Wanted to Know His Forgiveness
I knew I had sinned and knew God was offended. I knew that I didn’t want to remain on his side of disfavor. I learned that he had paved a way for me to be reconciled to him and justified (as if I’d never sinned) because of Christ’s death in our behalf.
5. The Fact that He Promised us an Eternal Home of Perfect Blessing.
There is no doubt that we live in an imperfect world – a world corrupted by sin. Murder, hatefulness, pride, oppression, evil, pain and death abound all around us. But this is not the end for those who know God. In fact, God’s word tells us that he causes all things to work together for the good of those who know God – to those who are the called according to his purpose.[ix]
He was good enough to send his Son to die on the cross for sinners who had no other hope of forgiveness.
If there is a God, wouldn’t you want to know him? Don’t shut him out of your life with unanswered questions. We will always have those. We can know him by faith in the work of atonement Jesus Christ performed in our behalf on the cross of Calvary.
[i] Isaiah 44.2
[ii] Psalm 139.1-4
[iii] Luke 15.20
[iv] Psalm 106.1
[v] Matthew 5.45
[vi] Luke 6.35
[vii] Psalm 145.9
[viii] Acts 14.17
[ix] Romans 8.28
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