Consider the incredible advantages of knowing God well. Wouldn’t you like to obey Him more consistently, be comforted when you feel hurt or alone and be better equipped to love others?

Don’t we want to experience God’s strength and presence through every trial, be freed from the cycle of poor choices, and manage our emotions better?

As in any relationship, if we want to know God, we must purpose to do so. Philippians 3:10 (AMPC) describes the richness we experience when we determine to know God on a deeper level:

“[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly].”

I love to imagine what knowing our Savior this closely would be like. How would this change my relationship with Him? How would knowing Him this way change me?

What about you? Do you crave the joy of knowing “the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly”?

Imagine the excitement of having a relationship with God that is so intimate that He reveals Himself in ways you never thought possible. Consider the freedom you’d feel as your relationship with Him becomes more important than your “right” to hate or hold a grudge. Think about the joy you’d experience as He empowered you to conquer that addiction to drugs, pornography or alcohol.

As we grow in our relationship with our Lord, we feel less stress because we’re no longer convinced that we know what’s best for us. We begin to trust God’s way, instead.

I believe that the wisdom and joy we’ll experience will be worth far more than any effort we invest – and everything we may have to give up. How about you?

Let’s pray: Father, help us to know You. Help us make it our determined purpose to be more deeply and intimately acquainted with You. Take us to the place where we can experience the incomprehensible joy of knowing the very wonders of Your Person. Amen.