Want to know God?

Bluff Park Baptist Church

I believe in God.” The middle-aged man who said those words to me had not been in church since he was a child. My first inclination was to try to convince him that he did not believe in God or berate him for not going to church if he did believe in God. In fact, in my younger years, I had done just that to the many people who expressed that thought even as they were not involved in His church. But this time, I simply asked, “Wouldn’t you like to know that God?”

There is a huge and important difference in knowing there is a God and knowing God. It is the latter that makes a difference in your life and death. Knowing God implies a relationship with Him. It speaks to an intimate communion with your Creator. Through knowing God, you will find comfort, peace and purpose in this physical life and an eternal spiritual life in His presence in heaven.

Perhaps you believe there is a God. You may phrase it differently by stating that you believe in a “higher power” or a “creator,” but you believe there is One who caused the very existence of all that is. My question to you is “Wouldn’t you like to know that higher power or creator?” You can. You can know God. 

The Bible makes it abundantly clear that there is only one way to know God. In John 14:6–7, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.” 

The first step, though, is this: You have to know yourself. You must acknowledge that you are a sinner. Not necessarily a bad person but a sinner — one who has not met the high ideals and standards of God. Then you must repent of sin in your life and ask Jesus to forgive you and save you from the consequences of sin. He promises that He will do that.

Now you must grow. Find a good Southern Baptist church near you, and join that family of believers. Study His Word, the Bible, so that you not only know God but also know more about Him. You will be thankful that you made the leap from believing in God to knowing Him.