“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”
(John 5:39-40)
Reflection:
There is a huge difference between knowing a lot about someone and knowing them personally. The first is a question of information whilst the second is a matter of relationship. Likewise there is an enormous difference between knowing of a truth and living it. These two come together in Jesus Christ who referred to Himself as ‘the Truth.’ To know of Him is not necessarily life-changing. To know Him is.
To have real value our knowledge of Jesus must develop through our relationship with Him. Likewise, the truth that He taught and revealed has no lasting effect in our lives unless it is received and lived. Jesus is not merely a subject for intellectual exercise and philosophical debate. He is God – to be worshipped, loved, trusted and obeyed.
No one can enter into a relationship with the Lord on our behalf – it is very personal both for us and for Him. It commences with His reaching out to us. We either acknowledge, accept and obey Him or we don’t. He has entrusted us with His life, He asks us to entrust Him with ours.
Love is a Person – “God is Love.”
Truth is a Person – “I am the Truth.”
Life is a Person – “I am the Life.”
All of these are of the one, true and living God whose desire for us is that we should be His eternal sons and daughters. There needs to be a personal acceptance of the invitation – an acceptance not merely in words but in the way we live our lives.
To live the Love, the Truth and the Life that God gives us is to move into a deepening relationship with Him so that something of who He is becomes revealed in and through us. This is the unity to which Jesus was referring in the picture of the Vine (John 15) and for which He prayed (John 17).
Jesus spoke of knocking at the door of our lives and waiting to be invited in (Rev 3:20). Paul exhorted his readers to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18). Both of these refer to the living reality of the Living God in our personal lives – and not just information.
May this be a time where we seek and find, ask for and receive, a deeper and more vibrant relationship with our wonderful Lord and God. It is something that He desires.
“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)
Response:
Ask God every day to deepen and bless your relationship with Him, to help you live His way and to say no to sin. Keep chatting to Him.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus help me please to seek, know and live out a deeper and more living relationship with You. Amen.
————-
The Soaring Eagle 