We live in a society that is chiefly motivated by wealth, power, and fame. Right out of the womb, most of us are taught to aspire those things. In God’s Word, this mentality and me-centeredness is called worldliness or of the world. The Lord specifically commands us in Romans 12:2 not to be conformed to this way of thinking, speaking, and being. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, and we allow his love into our hearts, God commands us to change our thoughts so that they line up with our new reality in Christ. Rather than thinking like the world does, we are to learn how Jesus Christ thinks, and tune into that. No more should we follow in lockstep to what everyone else does. Instead, God tells us to put on the mind of Christ. We must grow in our knowledge of him so that our relationship with God flourishes, and we become the men and women that He has called us to be.
A friend begged me to attend an event that was labeled as a VIP meet-and-greet for young professionals. A few well-known celebrities were there, and of course there was a dress code. At the time, I was looking to advance my career, so I tagged along. I had never seen so many beautiful and stylish people in one place. As we walked around, I spotted the Vice President of one the companies I admired. She was standing near her company’s booth, and I nudged my friend that we should try to introduce ourselves. He whispered to me that because we weren’t in designer clothes like the rest of the folks there, she probably wouldn’t give us the time of day. As I watched her pick and choose who she thought was worthy of her time, I realized my friend was right. The small talk in the room was all about gossip, designer clothes and jewelry, and how much people earned in their positions. It was a very lavish event, and probably many people walked away with great opportunities, but I was a bit bummed. It was disappointing to see that some of the most successful people there were far from humble about their success.
Jeremiah 9:23-24(NLT) tells us, “23 This is what the LORD says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. 24 But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!” This is a spectacular passage. Not only does the Lord tell us very plainly who He is, but He reminds us that loving Him is loving what is pure, excellent, glorious, holy, mighty, and true. He alone is worthy of praise, glory, and honor, and He lavishes us in His unfailing love. He tells us that if any person wants to boast, knowing and understanding Him is the only thing worthy of our boasting.
God wants a relationship with us Whether we will admit it or not, the fulfillment and meaningfulness of life depends on the quality of our relationship with God. Only He can fill our cups, and it would be useless to seek to fill the voids in our souls with anything other than His unconditional and perfect love. 1John 4:8 tells us that God is love, and our Heavenly Father demonstrates through His example that love must have a target on which to lavish its affection. In the earth, He has made us, His children, the targets of His love. He wants a relationship with each of us, and He wants to be close to us as well.
Acts 17:27-28(NLT) states, “So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’” Nothing about our lives is random. God purposed the place where we would be born and the family we would be born into. Acts 17:27-28 tells us that He did this for the express purpose of establishing an intimate relationship between Him and us, His offspring. God wants to seek Him, because He alone is worthy to be sought. He wants us to grope for Him, which means to feel our way towards Him, so that we demonstrate our passion and desire to know Him as much as He loves knowing us. He is never far, and this is something we must trust.
Romans 5:8(NLT) tells us, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” John 3:16(NKJV) says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And 1John 3:1(NKJV) declares, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” These verse are love songs to us from our Heavenly Father. They are proclamations of His great love for every individual.
Our Heavenly Father set the bar for true love as high as it could be set by offering His beloved and only begotten Son as a sacrifice for our sins. God has demonstrated His overwhelming and unconditional love for us, and He did it when we were at our worst. We were completely lost and without regard for His sovereignty, goodness, and majesty, and He rescued us from utter darkness through His Son, Jesus Christ. This shows us how much He loves us, because He gave His most valued and adored treasure for our sakes. Because of this, there should be no doubt in our minds that God greatly desires a relationship with us.
God wants us to be like Him Ephesians 5:1(NLT) says, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.” Because of God’s undeniable love, He made it possible for us to become His children through Jesus Christ. Our Heavenly Father always wants what is best for us, and we would expect nothing less from someone who loves us more than we could ever love ourselves. In the natural realm, God created the biological parental relationship, and for every child born, the biological parents are his or her everything. Nothing means more to a child than having parental love and support. This was not our model. We didn’t create it, God did. He set this up, and one of the reasons for it is to demonstrate the kind of love He has for His only begotten Son and for each of us.
When God delights in something, He compensates or rewards it, because Hebrews 11:6 tells us that He is a Rewarder to those who diligently seek Him. We learned from Jeremiah 9:23-24 that God loves righteousness and justice, and He brings those things to the earth. He cannot reward unrighteousness, because that would not be just. This is one of the reasons God roots for us to choose His Way, and this means to choose Jesus Christ, because in John 14:6, Jesus declares that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father unless it is through him. Choosing Christ means choosing to obey God, and to live by the example of Christ. The example of Christ is true, loving, righteous, and pure, and these are the things our God delights in. They are the things in us that He rewards.
We are God’s offspring, and He wants us to be like Him—to love, think, speak, and share like Him. To live for Him is the greatest thing we could ever hope to do. We must make it a priority to know God better through His Word. We cannot walk in something we don't know, and we cannot rise above the knowledge we currently have in our arsenals. God wants us to know Him intimately, so we can be like Him.
Through the example of Jesus Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and His Holy Word, the Bible, God has supplied all we need in order to live by His example. Doing so is living according to His purpose, and it keeps our hearts open to all He has in store for us. But make no mistake, our God is sovereign. He requires utter and complete allegiance. We must not have divided loyalties. 1Timothy 2:5(NKJV) tells us, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” We don’t belong to ourselves; we belong to God and knowing Him through Jesus Christ is the very definition of joy! He wants us to learn more about His love and to live in it increasingly. It’s how we are transformed into the image of Christ, and this is what our Heavenly Father desires for us all. ■
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Knowing God”, written for victoryinjesuschrist.life. Copyright© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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