I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.—John 10:14

Sometimes we will say “Oh, I know him, or I know her.” But we don’t really know that person. We may have heard of them. We may know a little something about them or know them through someone else. We may say we know them, but they are only a distant acquaintance at best. But we cannot claim knowing in the sense of having personal knowledge or being in relationship with them. When we know someone, we know something about their likes and dislikes. We know what makes them happy and what upsets them. We know their thoughts and aspirations, their dreams and ambitions, opinions and even their regrets. We might think this kind of intimacy is achieved through sexual relationship but knowing someone in the manner we have just described here is the highest intimacy we can have with another human.

Jesus said I am the Good Shepherd I know my own and my own know me. That’s a powerful statement. Without question your Good Shepherd knows you. He was there at your inception and has journeyed with you your entire life. Nothing you do is a surprise to him. He knows you inside and out, through and through. He knows what you are thinking before you even think it, what you will say before you say it, what you will do before you do it; how you will react to something. He knows what tempts you, what grieves you, what makes you laugh and brings a smile to your face, what puts a dance step in your feet. He knows what you want out of life, what you think and feel about other people; he knows your loves and hates. There is not one part of you he does not know.

I love how David wrote in Psalm 139—which is actually more like a love poem describing a deep love relationship between the created and the Creator. Through David’s words we get to see how involved the Creator is with us, how intimate his touch, how caring and connected he is with those he created. He is both within us and without. He has gone ahead of us but stayed behind to walk with us. He can read our thoughts, but he does not attempt to control our mind. He has made us, yet he respects the people we have become. The wisest being that could ever be, yet he entertains the human concepts and configurings (my made-up word!). He does not want us to leave this earth without having an intimate, loving relationship with him.       

Let’s be encouraged to let the Creators desire for intimacy inspire us to know him also. Our knowledge of him may not match his of us perfectly or exactly, but we can come close, we can reach for it, we can strive for it, we can study him, ask him questions, listen to him, watch him, feel him, learn him, desire to know him. We can stretch our soul to reciprocate the same loving, intimate, knowing relationship he has with us and much to our surprise he will fulfill it. As James wrote, “draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” (Jas. 4:8) Let’s Pray

Father, how well you know us! You know when we sit and when we rise, what we think and how we feel. Before a word is formed on our tongue you know it full well. Such knowledge is too high for us to attain, too deep for us to grasp, too wonderful for us to understand. May our love for you grow and deepen more and more, our knowledge of you increase with every passing day. As you say of us may we say of you, “I know him! He is my Good Shepherd! He created me and stays with me, loves me and cares for me.” Amen