I KNOW HIM!

typing with left hand, 2 curly haired girls on my lap, no kidding. my 3rd attempt at sugar free brownies is in the oven, but i can already tell you i used too much sweetener. (girls just went to play)

My older class of group school (age 11-14) and I have been reading a book called "But don't all religions lead to God?" or something like that. It's a great book. We've been enjoying it immensely. But yesterday we talked about something that has got me thinking, and I haven't stopped thinking about it. I shall attempt to talk about it here.

There is a scene in the movie "Elf" when Will Farrell is at the "North Pole" a.k.a. the gift wrapping department of Gilbert's or whatever the store is. The manager makes an announcement that Santa is coming, and Buddy (Will Farrell, who plays a human that grew up at the actual North Pole, raised by one of Santa's elves) goes ballistic. "I know him!! I know him," he shouts over and over. Everyone else is like, um, yeah. But Buddy the Elf is ecstatic, because he has a relationship with the actual Santa.

The book talked about how Jesus is unique in His claim to live in us, to be known by us. The Holy Spirit, after Jesus' ascension, reveals Jesus to us and makes it possible for us to KNOW Him. We don't just know about Him. We know Him!

If we are simply trying to live a good life according the Christian version of what a good life is, it is still dead works. It is still man trying to get to God. It is still religion. Even if it is the right religion, man trying to do the right thing so God will like him is not salvation. Salvation is receiving grace, knowing Him, living an entirely different way because we love Him and want to please Him.

If we say a prayer asking Jesus into our hearts, saying the right words, but have not come to know Him, have not been made new, have not been transformed, and are just trying to live up to the pressure of a new set of rules, that is not the narrow way. (by the way, much of this thought came from that sermon I watched on youtube by Paul Washer - sorry for the regurgitation) The evidence of our salvation is a transformed life because we have been changed by Love and want to please the One Who loves us.

What bothered me about the conversation with my kids was realizing that they very well may be going through their lives trying to do what is right out of relationship, but not relationship with HIM. They may just be living out their faith out of relationship with me. And I'm looking at other young people, their generation, and wondering, do they KNOW HIM? Are they just living out the way they were brought up, trying to do what's right, or do they have a real relationship with their living Lord?

Because my kids just doing what's right may look good, may make me look like I'm doing a good job, but if they don't KNOW HIM, it won't last. Or maybe it will. But if they meet Him one day and He says, "Depart from Me, I never knew you," what good is it? If they are successfully religious for their whole lives but never have a relationship with Him, what good does it do?

Not any. I want one thing for my children. Only one. I want them to know Him. I don't care about anything else. I don't care what it costs. I don't care what it looks like. I want them to know Him. If they are happily married and have lots of wonderful children and have a nice house and have great jobs and great educations and are great cooks and have lovely manicured yards and play lots of instruments and write songs and record cds, but don't know Him, it will be for naught. If they have a failure of a life and a string of heartaches but know Jesus, that will be a win. I'd rather have them be happy AND know Jesus. But I'd rather they find Jesus in the middle of difficulty than have a life of ease and happiness and never know Him.

And the brownies were too sweet in an aftertastey kind of way.