GETTING PRACTICAL

We have reached the point in this series of Insights where we must get practical. We began by noting that Christians need to know God better, and for several weeks have been reflecting on what that means (and what it doesn’t mean!). Now we must consider how we can go about deepening our acquaintance with him.

To do this I’ve decided to write in a very open and personal way, sharing what it means for me to know God and how I go about maintaining and deepening my relationship with him. I don’t do this to draw attention to myself or to suggest that I’ve got it worked out. Far from it! My relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is not what it should be or what I want it to be. I’ve chosen to write this way because I think it is the best way I can help you on your journey toward deeper intimacy with God. By sharing what I’ve learned, what I experience, and where I fail, I hope you will be able to see yourself more clearly, and perhaps see what you can do to make progress in knowing God. I know I run the risk of making myself vulnerable and open to criticism, but for the sake of helping you know Christ and the power of his resurrection (Phil. 3:10) I’m glad to do that.

How, then, do I go about keeping and deepening my relationship with God? Basically in three ways: first, by constantly learning about him; second, by constantly talking to him; and third, by constantly relying on him. Let’s take these three one at a time. It may take some weeks to cover them, but follow me if you will.

First, I seek to know and walk with God by constantly either learning new things about him, or reminding myself of what I already know of him. Some of you may balk at this and say it’s not what you wanted to hear. You already know enough about God; you have been stuffing your mind with information about him for years. What you want to learn is how you can experience him. Bear with me. We will get to where you want to go, but we must start here. If we are going to know God experientially, we need to begin by learning about him.

It took me some years to appreciate this fully. Early in my Christian life I associated knowing God with experienced feelings of God. To know him was to feel his presence and be aware of his work in and through me. If I didn’t feel that – which mostly I didn’t – then I didn’t think I was really in touch with him.

It was only later – sadly, much later – that I came to understand that knowing God was about relating to him intimately as a living, personal being. It was about connecting with him as a Friend – a holy and vastly glorious Friend, but nevertheless, a distinctly personal Friend. And the basis of this, I began to realize, was really the same as it is with forming and keeping a human friendship. To get to know my neighbour intimately I need to spend time with him learning about him. Only then can I relate to him with any depth or intimacy.

As simplistic and superficial (perhaps even irreverent) as that sounds, it’s nevertheless the first step to developing a closer relationship with God. We see that in Daniel, for example, when he prays, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands…” (Daniel 9:4). Here is a man who approaches God on the basis of what he knows about him. He knows that he is “great and awesome,” and that he is a God who “keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and keep his commands.” His relationship with him is not mystical or immediate; it is intelligent and informed, based on what he knows to be true of God. That’s where relational intimacy with him begins – with knowing about him. You will never know God deeply until you know what he is like.

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