I Want It
Knowing God
Hello Everyone! It has been a while since I posted a TfTD and I hope that life is going well for you. If not, be encouraged, drop me a line if you think that helps and I will be glad to try to encourage you.
I was thinking about the things I want the other day. There are many things that I want. I want the house with the circular driveway. I want the car. Oh, and by the way, I want somebody else to take it to the dealer when it needs a checkup. I want the body with the 6-pack abs. However, of all the things that I want, my biggest desire is to know God deeper than I already know Him. The Apostle Paul put it this way:
“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering…” (Phil 3:10)
What about you?
Understanding deep
I often remind myself that we are like books. Most of what we see are our covers. Our hair, out clothes and our smiles are all surface things. In similar ways, the cellphones and tablets that we carry have things that are inside that make them work. As for people, if a person is laughing or crying, there is something deep inside that makes them laugh or cry. It is then that wisdom digs beneath the surface of the things that we see and hear in our efforts to draw near to the truth. As we approach truth we are better able to understand so that we can help each other.
The very word, “under-stand”, implies depth. It means, “to stand under”. We stand under so that we can see how to help each other deal with the craziness of life. When we hear about an 11-year old who kills a one-year old, we want to under-stand. When mother lives in a storage shed with her 2 children and social services takes the kids. Rather than judge her, we want to understand so that we can help her. Frankly, the more craziness that happens in my own life, the less judgmental I become.
Digging for understanding
Martha’s craziness. For a second let’s dig under Martha’s craziness in Luke 10:38-42 and ask a couple of questions about knowing God better.
“And it happened, while they were traveling, that he entered into a certain village; and a certain woman, called Martha, received him into her house.39. And she had a sister called Mary, who also, sitting at the feet of Jesus, heard his word.40. And Martha was cumbered about much serving; who stood, and said, Lord, hast thou no care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore assist me.41. And Jesus answering said to her, Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and distressed about many things.42 But one thing is necessary: Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken from her.”
If I asked how many characters are in that story and you said, “three” you would be right. Further, if I asked which of the three is the deepest and you said, “Jesus” you would be right again. On the other hand, if I asked who ranks next in depth you would probably say Mary, and then Martha. You would say, “Mary” because she chose to sit and listen to Jesus, who is wisdom personified. She does what a seeker would do. She positions herself at the feet of wisdom because she wants to under-stand. Yep. She wants to go deeper.
Distractions and priorities
We do not know that Martha was not deep. She was distracted. That being said, she was the prototype of most of us. Need I say more? In Martha’s defense, it is ok to like nice things. We cannot conclude that she was not deep. She was simply distracted. During that event she was a material girl in a material world, caught up in the knives, forks and the napkins’ of life.
I do wonder who learned the greater lesson? We do not have a sure answer from Scripture but I suspect it was Martha. Mary wisely set at the feet of Jesus listening, but it was Martha who brought her mixed up priorities to Jesus. He dug into her situation and unearthed the truth. I repeat: “I wonder who learned the greater lesson?” If she followed His advice then it revolutionized her life. She had a chance to know God better.
It is true that depth is in knowing God better. It is a opportunity that we all have. People who know God in deep ways are deeply trustworthy. They need to be that way when people, like books, open the pages of their private lives and reveal their deepest concerns.
That’s what I want. What about you?
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