I, myself, am so guilty of this way of living. The purpose of this blog isn't for me to tell you that you should have a deep relationship with Jesus because more than likely you've heard that a thousand times. But the problem is, no one ever talks about HOW to cultivate that intimacy with Jesus. Sure, you're told to read your Bible and to pray, but no one ever says where to start in Scripture. They may suggest a shorter book of the Bible, like James or Philippians, for you to get a jump-start on your reading... ya know, just a little push to get you to want more later. And for some, that may work very well because the Holy Spirit did inspire the Words in Scripture and will certainly make them living and active in your life!
But for me, I didn't even have a desire to want to read those Words. I had to just start with God.
What I mean by starting with God is that I needed to know His character... Who He is, what makes Him tick, what He loves, what He hates, how He communicates, what He likes to do. That may sound funny to you- that I would use the same questions to get to know Him that I would use to get to know a new acquaintance- but that's just it... I wanted to have a real relationship with Him and I could think of no better way to do that than by playing "20 questions," if you will haha.
God said to Moses in Exodus 3:14, "I AM WHO I AM."
What in the world does that mean?! I mean, if I asked someone who I had just met who they were and their reply to me was, "I am who I am," that would tell me nothing about who they are.
But when God said, "I AM WHO I AM," what He was saying is that He is the One by Whom all things are defined.
To say that someone is kind, compassionate, selfless, beautiful... all of those characteristics are reflections of God's image, not that person. He is the definition of kindness, compassion, selflessness, beauty... if He were not the standard, then those descriptions would hold no merit.
I wanted to know more of this great God, Who is the standard by which all is judged! I wanted to know everything that I could know about Him. Much like the feeling that you have when someone special has caught your eye- you just want to know all about him and you can't get enough! That's how I began to feel, only multiply that feeling by infinity.
I started with Genesis (seemed appropriate...) and read in chapter 1 verse 27 how God created man and woman in His image. Already, I needed explanation since God is referred to with the pronoun "He," denoting masculinity, I wanted to know how His image is to be seen in femininity. God is described all throughout Scripture as having both male and female characteristics:
"And in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place" (Deut. 1:31).
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I (God) will not forget you" (Is. 49:15).
"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him" (Matt. 7:11).
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I (God) have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing" (Lk. 13:34).Jesus, as a man, did not allow His gender to define a hard set of rules for what His characteristics could be! Yes, He was a leader and he flipped tables and He is depicted in Revelation as a Warrior riding in for battle... but He also cared for children and He provided food for people and He cried. Beautiful!
I also looked at some of the different names of God to learn more about Who He is.
Jehovah-Jireh (God, My Provider)
Jehovah-Rapha (God, My Healer)
Jehovah-Tsidkenu (God, Our Righteousness)
El Roi (The God Who Sees)
Jehovah-Shammah (God, Who Is There)Those names in and of themselves gave me a much clearer picture of Who God is! But there's more... SO much more!
God is all-powerful (Jeremiah 32:17), able to protect (Psalm 18), all-knowing (1 John 3:19-20), and never-changing (Hebrews 13:8).
And now here's the most exciting part... I have only just hit the tip of the iceberg of God's character. I could literally learn more about Him every second of every day and STILL be so far from knowing all of Him! THIS is what has made me want to read the Word... knowing that He is too vast to comprehend but yet He still wants to talk to me is surreal, so I'm soaking up every conversation with Him and feasting on the Bread of Life.
Knowing Jesus is an endless frontier of incredible possibilty and daring adventure.
May you never stop exploring.
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