Do you like to see or hear from or even talk to famous or very well-known people? I do. Yesterday when I was looking through my emails, I noticed a personal one from Bill Johnson – the leader of the well-known church in Bethel, California. He had written that morning apologising for not having answered an email I wrote to him back in September. There is a story behind this communication. I had been asked to give Bill Johnson and his wife Beni a lift to the airport when they were speaking in Birmingham and in the course of the conversation I found out they were about to get some goats on their plot of ground where they live in Redding California. I told them about my days of working on goat farms and the herd of goats I was responsible for as a teenager and as a result got invited to visit them if they obtained the goats. The email was to say that other pressing needs had prevented them getting the goats, so a visit wasn’t going to work out.
Yesterday I also got a letter from the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, along with millions of others in the country, encouraging me to stay home and protect lives. On Sunday night I sat in front of my TV and watched the Queen do her special broadcast. I feel as if I know all these famous people quite well – but I’m not so sure if they know me.
The amazing truth about our relationship with God our Heavenly Father is that he knows us individually and very well and he wants us to know him too. In Psalm 139:2 it says ‘You know when I sit and when I rise’. That’s quite detailed knowing. In Jeremiah 31:33-34 it says, “No longer will a man teach his neighbour or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’ because they will all know me from the least to the greatest”. Paul while writing to the Philippians under house arrest says in Philippians 3:10 “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection…”
As we approach this Easter it would be easy to let our thoughts and concerns be dominated by the lockdown and pressures facing us but God’s reassurance is that he knows us and all about us and he wants us to know him close at hand as we face these challenges. At this time of year, and because most of us have extra time on our hands we have the opportunity to reflect on what Christ went through so each of us could know his forgiveness and have a strong, close relationship with Him. It can be a time where we get to know him better. We can be confident and hold our heads high understanding the amazing truth that he knows us too.
Have a blessed and memorable Easter weekend. Roger
