To Know Him

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give  
you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Ephesians 1:17

“Why do you love God?, the bitter woman spewed at my mother. 

“I love Him because I know Him,” she answered quietly.

I’ve marveled at that dialogue for many years. When I heard the angry words, I was indignant, affronted and hurt for my mother. Self-righteousness rose up in my little-girl heart. Yet Mother’s words were a gentle hand calming the swirling chaos in my spirit. I don’t remember the woman’s response, except that there was no retort, no argument, no escalation.

My parents were to me, a picture of Jesus. They lived their love for Him. Though far from perfect, they were a personification of His love for me...lavish, unselfish, forgiving, constant. Even as a young girl, I knew that they knew Jesus…personally, profoundly and with a maturity that came from expanses of time with Him.

In her waning years, widowed and alone, my mother enjoyed sweet fellowship with her true love, Jesus.  He was her constant companion, her joy, her satisfaction, and her peace. This ease with her Savior came through time spent in His presence, getting to know him…by living with him through the trenches and peaks of life.  

I’m challenged to know Him more. Jesus promises, “…you know him (God the Father), for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). In the next chapter, John 15, Jesus teaches us how to know him more….by abiding in him.

Lord, give me, I pray, the spirit of wisdom and revelation that I may know you more and learn to abide more fully in you.

Jill Hardin