Knowing v. Being Known

Think back to High School. I know, its painful, but give it a try.

Now, think about those people that you knew, but didn't really know - you know?

At least for me, there were people whose names I knew, but as far as I know they didn't even know who I was. Maybe you were way cooler than me at that age, but for me it there was a huge group of people whose names I knew who I'm pretty sure had no idea who I was. (Okay, these were mostly students in the grades ahead of me. And okay, they were mostly girls. It comes with the age.)

There is a huge difference between knowing someone's name and someone knowing yours. There's something about someone saying your name from memory that lets you know that you matter (at least a little bit) in their world.

The same thing is true with God. We can know all about Him, we can know his name and his likes and dislikes and the names of his friends, but does He know us? We can read all about him and think that we know what he's all about, we can think we have a firm understanding of theology, but if we think we have God figured out, it is a pretty good indicator that we have no idea.

"The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God." - 1 Cor 8:2-3

We're not talking about a God who is concerned with knowledge.

He's a God who cannot even be known. (But that doesn't stop us from trying.)

We're talking about a God who is concerned with Love.

He's a God who will know our name if we love Him. (And that means loving others.)