TO KNOW HIM!
That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. (Philippians 3:10)
How well do you know Jesus Christ? Very well? Not well at all? Perhaps you just know about Him, but you really don't know Him. Certainly there is a difference between knowing about a person, and knowing a person. For instance, I know "about" Michael Jordan, and Martin Luther King. But I really don't know them. There is a degree of non-intimacy that accompanies "knowing about." However, to know someone carries the implication of intimacy to a certain degree.
In the passage above, the Apostle Paul states that he wants to know Jesus better. This is remarkable because Paul met Jesus on the Damascus road. Paul had preached about Jesus on his missionary journeys; and had written many letters about Jesus. You would think that Paul knows Jesus pretty well already. Yet, his main goal is to be able to know him better. Paul felt that in order to know Jesus better he had to know the power that resurrected Jesus from the dead. Many people will often tell you that they know how you feel when you experience difficulties. But often, they really will not know how you feel unless they experience something very similar. Paul also said that he wanted to fellowship with the sufferings of Jesus. How many of us would want to experience what Jesus had to go through in His death on Calvary? Paul felt that such fellowship would help him know Jesus Christ better. Finally, Paul said that he was willing to conform to the death of Jesus Christ to know Jesus better. Do we look forward to dying as we desire to know Christ better?
For us, we must admit that we can always know Jesus better. To do so, requires that we spend more time with Him. We need to pray more; study His Word more; and spend time in Worship more. We need to act like Him by asking ourselves what would He do in certain situations.
I am like Paul. I want to know Jesus better. To know Him is to love Him. To know Him is to praise Him. To know Him is give your life to Him. I pray that you will join me in deciding that for the rest of our days, we will work toward the goal of knowing Him better!
