TUESDAY: Knowing About God vs. Knowing God

BIG IDEA: You could be in the right place with the right people doing all the right things and still be WRONG with God.

Reading:

Jonah 2:1-10

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your breakers and your waves passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head. To the roots of the mountains I went down, to the land whose bars closed upon me forever. Yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.”

John 17:3

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Devotional:

Jonah was a professional prophet (a “for-profit-prophet”) who knew all the right answers, attended all the right services, and performed all the right rituals. Yet it took being swallowed by a fish for him to truly encounter God personally.

John Wesley, the great church leader, faced a similar revelation—he had theological knowledge but lacked experiential faith. You can be in the right place with the right teachers doing all the right things and still not be right with God. Salvation isn't about religious performance; it's about personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ alone.

The question isn't "Do you know about Jesus?" but "Do you KNOW Jesus?" Head knowledge must travel the eighteen inches to the heart in order to truly know the Lord. 

One day we will each answer for whether or not we know Jesus and He knows us. 

Reflection:

Can you confidently say, "I know Jesus has saved me," or do you only hope He has?

Song of the Day:

 Steffany Gretzinger - Knowing You (Official Lyric Video)