The Power of Knowing
“Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” II Timothy 1:12
There is a great difference in knowing “of” someone and “knowing” them.
I’ve often thought how spectacular is would have been to have know some
the famous historic figures of our past…to have walked and talked with them.
Our history books tell us the story, but to have actually known the real
person…now that would have been a blessing.
And getting back to the present, we all have our accounts of how radically
different people can be from what we think once we get to know them.
To actually know someone means the heart and soul is revealed…motives
are easy to see and walls that separate us as human beings are torn down.
To know someone makes a difference in our lives and gives us peace and
confidence in knowing exactly who that person is.
Paul’s second letter to Timothy is a powerful message of a father to a son in
the spiritual sense.
Imprisoned, Paul probably knows he will never see Timothy again in the
flesh and encourages him to carry on the high call of Christ in his life.
Paul gives Timothy many powerful suggestions on how to proceed, but we
can only sense the desperation that surely filled Timothy’s heart.
Paul had been his mentor.
How would he carry on?
Where would the power come from?
Perhaps no words had more strength for Timothy than when Paul says, “I know
whom I have believed.”
Paul not only knew “of” Jesus.
He “knew” Him.
He experienced Christ personally in his life.
The story took the shape of a friend…a Savior who lives in the hearts
of the believer…a Savior who never leaves.
Many sermons will be preached…many books written.
Seminar class will be taught and Bibles will be read.
There will be countless acts of goodness for others in His name.
More churches will be built and sanctuaries will get more beautiful in
which to worship.
But nothing…absolutely nothing will ever replace
the power of knowing Jesus Christ personally in our lives.
Knowing Jesus is the essence of our faith and without that personal
relationship with Him, all else is meaningless.
It
gave strength to a young man fixing to strike out on his new ministry.
And it gives us that same strength today in our lives.
“I know whom I have believed.”
Thanks be to God for the power that comes from knowing Jesus Christ personally
in our lives.