ICS Daily Devotions
God Knows You Personally and We Need to Know Him
John 10:14 (NKJV) I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
God uses the metaphor of the shepherd and the sheep throughout the Bible to illustrate how He, as the Good Shepherd, will look after the sheep, understand their condition and the state of their being. On several occasions, God was really upset with the leadership of Israel because they were not responsible shepherds. God had expectations and requirements for those shepherds/leaders. God Himself would go over and above what He requires His shepherds to do, act and behave towards the sheep because He is our Chief Shepherd.
There is a huge difference between knowing God and knowing about God. When we know about God through merely reading or hearing about Him, then it remains as a mental assent. It is secondhand news or knowledge. We will not really know God unless we walk with Him, commune with Him and step out in faith to trust Him.
The fact we have fear in our lives is because we do not really know God. Fear is built on the unknown, the“what ifs” and all the different scenarios. We are fearful that God will abandon or forsake us when we face difficult situations or that He will not protect, provide or watch over us. We might have experienced being abandoned by people who professed to have loved us. Therefore we will have difficulties having faith in a God we cannot see or feel. We can only take His Word for it. However, if we truly know God, we will not be fearful because we know God is love and He never lies. Whatever God has promised in the Word of God is all true therefore, even though circumstances and people change over time, we know that God will keep true to His promises. This gives us the courage or faith to trust God.
Even though we cannot see God, Jesus came to declare God to us. Jesus and the Father are One. Therefore, we know God when we read about the life and ministry of Jesus because we see God at work when we see Jesus. What Jesus said is exactly what God wants said. What Jesus did is exactly how and what God wants done. Jesus came to do the will of the Father.
Getting to know God takes time, just as it takes time for us to get to know someone well. This is the reason the Scripture encourages us “to taste and see” that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8) and His mercy endures forever.
God knows you personally. In fact, He knows you better than you think you understand yourself. He knows everything about you from the very beginning because He created you. Despite your failures, He still loves you enough to have died for you on the cross. God is our Good Shepherd. How much do you know God in return?
Sermon Series: Who Is Shepherding You?
