That I May Know Him

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord... that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings... Philippians 3: 8, 10

A I was studying the book of Philippians, these verses seemed to leap off the page right into my heart. I started using Kay Author's “The New Inductive Study Series” to study books of the Bible. The study on Philippians and Colossians is titled, “That I May Know Him.” (Side note: if you want to know a book of the Bible backward and forward, in and out, these studies do that! They are not about Arthur's insight, but about the insight you receive when you really study the scriptures for yourself.)

I chose this one first because I want to know more about God Himself. Until we truly know who God is, how can we love and serve him whole-heatedly? When I read this verse, I found myself asking, “Is knowing Christ Jesus more important than anything else? Anything that I may have to give up in order to do so? It was to Paul. Obviously so. Paul gave up everything to know Jesus and by knowing Him, to serve him with all that he was.

Most Christians would say that they already know Jesus. Being saved is the most important step in knowing Jesus, but it isn't the final step. As Christians, our heart's desire should be to know all that we are able about our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus. In relationships, whether it be a friendship, marital, sibling, etc..., we don't feel close to a person if we don't take the time to get to know them. How is it any different with God?

The Lord put a desire in my heart a few years ago to find out more about who He is, His character and His attributes. He lead me to a Bible study called “Knowing God by Name” by Mary Kassian. By this time, I had been involved in and lead several women's bible studies at church. I decided to do this one for myself over the summer. I was so moved by it, I wanted to share it with others. Out of all the studies I had done, I have never gotten so much out of any of them as I did this one. I learned so much about God that my heart and perspective were changed. I grew to love Him more and be awestruck by Him more than I ever had before.

I was a little disappointed however, when I had the fewest number of women in this class out of all the studies we had done. Now, I know that things come up and some people who may have wanted to be there were not able. But the numbers did tend to suggest something. Other studies were more about how we could change or how God could help us. This study was strictly about getting to know our Father. It seemed that subject wasn't as interesting. What I would loved to have told them is that our lives and we, personally, do change for the better when we get to know God better! There is immeasurable value in knowing God.

It seems to be the unfortunate and unintentional truth of Christians today to stay so busy that taking the time to get to know God, takes a back seat to nearly everything else. I heard our pastor say yesterday that many people only go to church when there is nothing else on the schedule to do. Church often takes a back seat to other things. I am not legalistic and I know that sometimes things come up, but when it becomes a habit, we need to ask ourselves have these other things become idols?

What about our time spent at home? Do we let sleep, tv, social media, household chores, etc... squeeze out the time that we need to devote to learning about God? I once heard a pastor say that whatever you can't give up to spend time with Jesus is more important to you than He is. That really hit me hard because I didn't think I could give up sleep in the morning to get out of bed early to pray, but I didn't want extra sleep to be more important to me than Jesus. (Unfortunately, I have often had to be reminded of this. Those who know me, know I like to sleep as long as I can in the morning! My best sleep is around 5am).

Look again at what Paul said, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus.” When I look at the list above, it is truly convicting that I would consider any of these things as more important than knowing Jesus. We would never think that! But when we allow them to keep us from reading God's word, from prayer or going to church, that is what we are saying. They have become our idols, because we have made them more important than God. Why waste so much of our precious time on things that have no value? It doesn't make sense. “Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15,16)

I pray that the earnest desire of my heart and yours is the same as Paul's in verse 10 “that I [we] may know Him.”