To Know, or Not To Know

Luke 7:47 Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that's why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little."

The more intimate our encounter, the more profound our desire to know and experience more.

Has God been a convenience for you? Is He a way out of an undesirable situation, perhaps, or an entry into a social group of people you want to connect with? The religious leaders, the power brokers, those accepted and permitted by the Roman rulers, were willing to make room for Jesus if He was willing to follow the established rules. If He brought the power He held over the masses and shared it with them, they would grant Him acceptance at the top levels of society and governmental authority. After all, isn't that the goal of everyone who is anyone? They had no needs that were not fulfilled by slaves, servants and money. Those nagging questions of the heart could drowned out with larger parties and louder music. What could He offer them that they could not already buy?

Has God touched you where you live? Have you felt the deep, inner emptiness that took all your tears and cries and brought no relief? Have you been lifted up, given hope, brought into the light after you had despaired of ever finding a way out of the mess your life had become? Those who know what it is to struggle without hope, to endure without vision, to persist day by day under a burden of despair, anxiety, grief, stress, worry, living in a land of darkness and chains, held prisoner by fear, carry with them a gratitude for their rescuer that knows no bounds.

Isaiah 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

Matthew 4:16 The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the shadow-land of death, light has dawned.

Once we have been rescued from the pit we were mired in, once the crushing debt we owed and had no hope of paying off has been canceled, and we have started on our Christian walk, it is possible to forget our origins; it can be convenient to overlook who we were and what we were capable of before the touch of God entered our lives and forever changed our very nature. Without needing to dwell in those conditions again, we can still look at the scars we bear, now healed, and daily lay down what we have gained at the foot of the throne of the One Who made it all possible.

Lord, You rule. You save. You love. You rescue. All that we are, all that we could ever become, all that we may gain and accumulate, whether on earth or in heaven, comes from You. We bow before You, laying what is in our hands at Your feet, confessing it is all from You, and even our very lives are a gift from You. Use us as You will, Lord, to achieve Your will. We trust You to care for us in the future as unchangingly steadfast in Your love as You have in the past. Thank You for touching our hearts, giving us life and joy, and for the greatest treasure of all, Your presence, dwelling with us and within us. Show us how to prepare ourselves to be fit habitations for Your Spirit.

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