How Can You Know God Better? Part 1

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.

Ephesians 1:17

Do you want to know God better? Before you answer with a quick affirmation, take a moment to think. Do you really want to know God better than you do today? Why? If you really do want to know God better, what should you do? How can you know God better?

Our world suggests many different paths to knowing God better. Of course, there is a growing chorus these days that says knowing God is impossible or silly. But, the vast majority of people still believe we can and should know God. And many of these are happy to tell you how.

Some gurus would encourage us to look within ourselves because God is fully present there. Self-examination is the key to knowing God. Others would urge us to look far and wide at the world's religions, picking and choosing that which we want to believe about God. Still others would claim that the only way to know God is through intellectual inquiry. Philosophy is the best path to the knowledge of God. What all of these ways have in common is an assumption that you can know God on the basis of yourself: your experience, your effort, your wisdom, your reason. If you want to know God better, you can make it happen.

Ephesians 1:17 disagrees. Knowing God is not something you can do on your own. Rather, it depends on God. You can know God only if God chooses to make himself known to you. The good news is that God has already revealed himself in profound ways: in creation, in history, in his people, in Scripture, and most of all in Jesus Christ. Moreover, God has given us his Spirit so that we might know God truly and intimately.

Thus, if you want to know God better, there are things you can do. Don't start by looking into yourself or choosing from the buffet line of world religions or hiding away in the library reading philosophy. Rather, pay attention to how God has revealed himself. And then, join Paul in asking God to give you wisdom and revelation through the Spirit. I'll have more to say about what this means tomorrow.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: In what ways do you know God? How has God made himself known to you in your life? Do you want to know God better? What are you prepared to do in order to know him more intimately and truly?

PRAYER: Gracious God, thank you for making yourself known to us. Thank you for not leaving us on our own, forced to figure out who you are through our own efforts. Thank you for revealing yourself in creation, in history, in your people, in Scripture, and in Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh.

Help me, Lord, to grow in my knowledge of you. Make yourself known to me more clearly and truly through your Spirit. Amen.