Would you believe me if I told you that God has chosen you to know Him?
It's true!
"You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God—there never has been, and there never will be."--Isaiah 43:10(NLT)
Some of my fondest memories as a kid growing up in the 1980s, involved riding in the back of my dad's black pick-up truck (before it was against the law!). On Saturdays, my dad would pile the four of us--me, my sister, Sharee', and our two dogs, Sergeant ("Sarge") and Honey-Bee--into the back of the truck for a ride to a lake near our home. Our dogs were boxers--and tons of fun. It would seem as if they knew where we were going because they would beat Sharee' and I out of the house to hop into the truck.
I would always look forward to these trips because I was spending time with Dad. My dad was a Marine who loves the outdoors, so an adventurous outing was a guarantee. It was an opportunity to study him. I would watch him find a good walking stick. I would watch him skip stones on the river. I would observe his hiking skills as we walked through the woods. We would laugh and talk and enjoy each other's company. I was getting to him--as a person, and not just Dad. Relationship was being developed.
As it relates to relationship with God, I often hear people say, "I'm religious" or "I go to church" or "I believe in God" or "I give my tithes". That's not relationship. A relationship with God is personal and intimate. As a good natural father would want his children to know him, so it is with God the Father. God desires relationship with his children. He wants his children to want to have a personal relationship with Him.
Recently, I heard the Lord say, "My children do not know me...They know of me. They know religion. But, they do not know ME."
Do you know God? Are you cultivating a relationship with him? Or, are you religious? There is a difference between religion and relationship. Cultivating a relationship takes time. We live in a fast paced world--we are rushed, we are hurried, we are on a schedule, we have deadlines to meet, we have appointments to keep, we have to get our kids to their activities, we have to prepare dinner, etc... There is so much to do! We are so busy! I say this tongue-in-cheek, but it is a sad, true reality of the pace of life. Where is God in our schedule? He desires that you get to know Him.
The demands of life are temporal, but a relationship with the Father is eternal. Commit to getting to know the Father. There are vast and immeasurable benefits and blessings that can only come through relationship with Him.