Do you "know" God?

Psalm 100:3 (NCV) KNOW that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep he tends. (emphasis mine)

“What does the word “know” mean to you? For me, I think I use the word whether I actually “know” the truth about something or someone. Have you ever said you “know someone” only to have that “knowledge” proven wrong? Boy I have… and being proven wrong isn’t very much fun at all.

What does it mean to actually “know” God? Having asked myself this question, I went to  Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary. I like to use this version because he used the Bible as the foundation for his definitions.

The word "know" means:

“To perceive with certainty; to understand clearly; To distinguish; To be informed of; To be no stranger to; To have full assurance of; To learn

If I have made the Bible the standard by which I live my life, knowing that the Lord is God is essential. It’s not enough for me to “believe” that God is God – because even Satan and his minions “believe” in God (James 2:19). There is an action required on my part. I have to be informed of, learn, perceive with certainty and distinguish with clarity that God is God. How do I do this? By getting into His word and “learning” everything I can about who He is and the things He has done....and after I have done all this…I have to trust and have faith.

Getting into God’s word helps me “discover” the characteristics of God. I have heard people say “I know God won’t do this for me”, “I know God doesn’t exist”, "I know God doesn’t love me”. But how do they really know unless they dig into the truth? Their words are most likely based on “what they have heard from outside influences.” For the longest time, I thought that God couldn’t love me because I had done some pretty horrible things throughout the course of my life. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Psalm 100:3 also reminds me that God made me. This simple truth is also confirmed in Psalm 139:13 – “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” He sent His one and only Son to die for me (John 3:16) so that I could spend eternity with Him. Furthermore, Romans 5:8, reminds me that God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Throughout His word I am assured of His knowledge of me:

Psalm 56:8 (MSG) You've kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book.

Psalm 139 (NIV) is also a reminder God has searched me and knows me; He knows my thoughts, my ways, when I get up and when I lie down.

What about my “knowledge” of Him? Have I grown in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18) as the Bible urges me to? The answer is “I am on a life-long journey to know God and His characteristics. I want to know Him the way He knows me. How about you? Do you want to “know” the God of the universe in this way?