“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
John 10:27-28 (NIV)
Jesus wants everyone to know Him, but not in the same way a historian or theologian knows Him. He wants us to know Him in the intimacy of a relationship, which could be as a father, a brother, or a friend, but first and foremost as a Savior who gave Himself for us.
Everything we go through in our life is meant to help us know Jesus better, and to live in the confidence of being fully known by Him. When Jesus talked about judgement, He said that on that day, He would need to say to some people, “I never knew you.”
(Matthew 7:23)
That may be the most sobering scripture in the New Testament. It makes anyone want to ensure that we are known by Him.
A few years ago, I learned a lesson that relates to the theme of being known. It happened through a birthday cake I ordered from Dairy Queen. It was for my niece’s 40th birthday party, and I paid in advance for the cake, planning to pick it up on the weekend. The young man who took my order seemed new and unsure of himself, but he wrote down everything as I told him to put on the cake. Then he gave me a receipt and I left.
Later that day, it occurred to me that he never asked for my name or phone number. So I quickly looked for my receipt, knowing it would be my only proof, but to further complicate things, I couldn’t find the receipt anywhere.
I retraced my steps, but realized I might have accidentally thrown it away. So I now had no receipt to claim ownership of the cake, while they had no name or phone number of the person who ordered it.
I called Dairy Queen and asked if they had an order for a cake that read “Happy 40th birthday, Seanna.” They confirmed that they did, and it was marked paid, but without any name of the customer who ordered it. I was able to identify the cake as mine by knowing the name on the cake, and they assured me it was proof enough. No stranger would want a cake with someone else’s name on it, so Seanna’s name was my saving grace.
What a bizarre situation that was. I paid for a cake and then lost my receipt. The young man took the order for the cake correctly, but forgot to add my name or number to the order. The two of us were a hazardous combination for any business transaction.
I knew there had to be a deeper meaning to all of this. Technically, without a receipt, no one can claim ownership of anything, and a name means nothing if it was never written down in the first place. The whole debacle reminds me of a scripture that says, Jesus is the only name given among men, by which we are saved.
(Acts 4:12)
When we stand before God one day, we will have no receipts to show, because salvation cannot be bought with money. Even if someone is famous, their name won’t be enough unless Jesus knows them. Names matter. As the name of Jesus is our saving grace, He actually writes our name in a book of life.
(Revelation 20:15)
To hear Jesus call our name, will probably be the most satisfying moment in eternity.
Jesus wants to know us even more intimately today than He did yesterday, and He waits for us to invite Him into every part of our life and being, simply because He loves us so much. Like any other ongoing relationship, it involves knowing each other more over time.
Lord, we give all of ourselves to be known by you and held in your hand, and we pray to know you more intimately, to spend eternity in your presence. Amen
