Today’s reading is from Ephesians 1:17-21. Paul is writing to the Christians in Ephesus: 17 “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, 20 which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”
There is so much here – but the verse that keeps grabbing my attention is this:
“That you may know Him better…”
I keep thinking about the woman in Matthew 9:20 who had been bleeding for 12 years. She “knew” Who Jesus really was. She “knew” that if she could only touch the hem of His garment that she would be healed!
I keep thinking about the two blind men in Matthew 9:27 who cried out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” They were the first ones to refer to Him as the “Son of David.” They “knew” Who Jesus was! The religious leaders who supposedly “knew” everything about God and His Word and the coming Messiah – didn’t “know” the Son of David – even when He was standing there in front of their very eyes. They physically could “see” – but, the eyes of their hearts could not “see.” The blind men physically could not “see” – but the eyes of their heart “saw” and “knew” Who Jesus really was! I love that!
I want to be like the blind men – and “see” Jesus – don’t you?
I want to “see” Him --- I want to “know” Him better. He doesn’t want me to settle for just “knowing” His name or reading stories about Him! He wants me to really “know” Him! The closest relationship I can parallel with this is my marriage. Other people "know" my husband. To some, they "know" him as their pastor. He has a lot of close friends. He is extremely close to his family. He is very “tight” with his children and they “know” him very well! But, me? I “know” my spouse better than all of them! I have lived with him, laughed with him, cried with him, and have experienced struggles and victories of life with him. Yet, this is only a glimpse of what “knowing” Christ is like! Oh, how I yearn to “know” Christ even more than I “know” my husband. I want to “live” with Christ, to “laugh” with Christ, to “cry” with Christ, to go through struggles with Christ, and to experience Victory through Christ!
I keep thinking about the blind men and what Matthew says that they did as soon as they were healed. Jesus warned them not to tell anyone. “But they went out and spread the news about Him all over that region.” (Matthew 9:31) I love the Message version of verse 31: “And then, as soon as Jesus healed them, they ran out and started “blabbing” it to everyone they met.”
The blind men “knew” Him. The blind men’s hearts “saw” Him. And now the blind men could physically “see” Him, too! But, this wasn’t enough! They couldn’t wait to “blab” what they “knew” to everyone they met!
“The eyes of their heart were enlightened in order that they may know the Hope to which He had called them”! I want that, too. I want the eyes of my heart to be enlightened in order that I may “know” this Hope to which He has called me ---- and I want to be “accused” of “blabbing” about this Hope to everyone I meet!
How about you? Do you "see" Him? Do you "know" Him? Do you "blab" about this Hope to which He has called you?
-dawn