Knowing

Luke 1:1-4

"1 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed."

As I sit here tonight writing this blog entry, I am anticipating the upcoming birth of my fourth grandchild.  I say grandchild because I don’t know if it will be a boy or a girl.  Unlike my son and daughter-in-law, most parents today want to know the sex of their baby before it’s born.  Like so many things in life, we need to know.  We need to know what the weather will be tomorrow.  We need to know the traffic report before we head out the door in the morning.  We need to know that our paycheck is coming so that we can pay our bills. 

From the very beginning, Luke tells us why he wrote his gospel, “...that we may know the certainty of the things we have been taught.”  Like two pieces of bread on a great sandwich, John closes the gospels taking this truth even further, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (John 20:31).  Later, in John’s first epistle, he makes this same truth even clearer, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)

I remember when I was just a little girl with questions about how to know God.  I also remember, later on, how inadequate I felt when others around me seemed to have profound experiences that I did not have.  With tears, I sought to have these mystical experiences, too.  “Was I being left out?” I wondered.  I grasped on to every little inkling that I could and amplified it.  Would it qualify as a valid spiritual experience?  Was I missing a vibrant relationship with God if I didn’t experience what others were?      

Through an admittedly minor trial, God began to open my eyes to truth again.  As I began to read His Word as it is, not as it was re-interpreted to mean, but as it is truly written, I began to understand.  As I continue in the Word, I have been blessed by a growing assurance of faith, settled in my heart.  It’s not worked up, or something that I must convince myself of.  It is a reality.  The Bible is a precious gift to me.  It is God’s specific revelation of Himself so that we may know—not wander about in a misty cloud of unknowing—not doubting a subjective experience or a fleeting feeling—but truly know what He has revealed so that we may be reconciled to Him and experience true, abundant, eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Next:  John 1:1-18