Timely reminders...

So often I forget how big God really is. I also too often make life so much more complex than it should be by getting caught up in the things that so easily hinder and entangle me and scream for my attention to be on it rather than God.

We sang in campus church this morning at LU a song that is so simple, but has come to mean so much to me. It simply says:

"All of life comes down to just [these] things:

that's to know You, O Jesus, and to make You known"

There are two passages in Scripture (that I am aware of...I am sure there is more) that state these two things mentioned in this song.

In Jeremiah 9:23-24, the Lord says this to His people:

"This is what the LORD says: 'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, Who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the LORD."

In the Amplified version of the Bible it says it this way:

"Thus says the Lord: 'Let not the wise and skillful person glory and boast in his wisdom and skill; let not the mighty and powerful person glory and boast in his strength and power; let not the person who is rich [in physical gratification and earthly wealth] glory and boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] riches;
But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character], that I am the Lord, Who practices loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight,' says the Lord."

God says it Himself, we are to know and boast in Him.

In another passage in the New Testament, Mark 12:28-31 says:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked Him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 'The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. 'There is no commandment greater than these."

May our hearts be inclined to these 2 purposes: to know God and make Him known. To love God and love people. For that is what we were created to do. Praise Jesus for His amazing sacrifice on the Cross. It is only through Him that we have access to a real, passionate, personal relationship with our Creator. It is only by His blood that we have been healed, redeemed, forgiven and restored to our original purpose for which all mankind was created...to know and love God as displays of His glory and splendor. May we never boast in anything by Him and the Cross (Galatians 6:14).

God is so good. Praise Him.