A few days ago, I was reflecting on a pivotal situation in our lives. I say pivotal because this situation had to happen to shift our thinking into the possibility of moving to Africa. My husband had a really good job making more than he had ever made before. Three months ago, he was fired. To make a long, complicated story very short, he was accused of quite a few sexual advances towards a female subordinate (some a bit outlandish) and was accused of plotting to leave me for her. How did this affect me? I was overjoyed!!!! Why? Because my husband was no longer working a job that drained him and kept him away for so long. Because this occurrence meant that God had to be moving us into a new stage. And because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the allegations made against my husband were false. How did I know this? Because my husband and I know each other on an intimate level. We have always put a big emphasis on communication and have even talk through uncomfortable situations and scenarios in a "what if" kind of way. Our neighbor, who worked for my husband, told Sean that we must have a good relationship because his wife would have left him following such accusations.
My reflections began to draw a comparison. If knowing my husband so intimately...his character, the way he makes decisions, his values, what he things and feels about me, what he thinks about extramarital affairs, what he thinks about divorce, and so on....allows me to really know him to the point that I have a foundation and a truth about him in which I am able to make sound judgements about him and his character, how much more does an intimate relationship with Jesus allow us to stand firm on who He is, how He feels about us, and how we feel about Him. When our feelings, thoughts, and what we accept to be truth are based on the written Word of God and our interactions with Christ on an intimate personal level, we will not be shaken but stand firm in our relationship. When accusations are made against Christ, we can cast them down because we intimately know who He is. Our faith is built when we know Him intimately by when we hear, meditating on, and studying his Words: "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)
Now if I only knew about my husband from what others said about him and I did not know him intimately, I might have a hard time believing his innocence. My belief in his innocence would depend on the perceptions of what others had told me about him. My belief in his innocence would be based off of others opinions and interactions with him. I would not have that intimate knowledge of him. I believe that the same is true with my relationship with Christ. Without the intimate knowledge of scripture, my time spent meditating on the Word of God, my times of conversation with Him, and my times of worship and prayer, I would not have a relationship with Christ; therefore, if I claimed any relationship with Him then it would be based off the the relationship that another had with Him. A good example would be going to church and only listening to what the preacher said and taking every word that is said as truth and never going and weighing what is said against the Word of God. In this scenario the "relationship with Christ" is based off of the experiences and relationship of the preacher not a personal intimate relationship created from seeking Him and knowing Him intimately through His Word. I believe that many have been lead astray throughout history because people did not have that intimately relationship, took what was told to them by others as truth because they did not have a foundation of their own based off of the Bible, and was lead astray by false beliefs and notions.
I encourage you today to know Christ intimately...to know Him for yourself.....to keep your eyes fixed on Him, and then watch how your life is transformed by this intimate knowledge of Him.
