“And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” John 17:3 ESV¹

Last year about this time, I was watching my grandchildren so my daughter and son-in-law could go on a Valentine’s Weekend Retreat with their Small Group. I got to spend some special one-on-one with my preschool granddaughter while her baby brother took his morning naps.

During one of those mornings, my granddaughter and I were playing with toys. She picked up a toy cow, pushed a button on its tummy, and set it on the floor. It rolled around on the ground and laughed hysterically. My granddaughter exclaimed, “Look at this cow, Grandma; it laughs like you.” It really did sound like me when I laugh.

Later, I was reading a book to my granddaughter. She leaned over and took a long, deep sniff of my sweater and said, “Grandma, your sweater smells like you.” A little later, we made paper boats out of colored construction paper. When we were about to float them in the bathtub, my granddaughter declared, “Here Grandma, you can have the blue one because that is your favorite color.” I returned, “Actually, green is my favorite color.” My granddaughter disagreed, “No, it’s not. Your water bottle is blue. Your suitcase is blue. Your van is blue. You don’t have anything that is green.”

That night, after I got the grandkids to bed and they had drifted off to sleep, I lay in bed processing the day. I thought about the activities my granddaughter and I had done together and the things she had said. These thoughts made me smile as I realized what a privilege it is to be so known and so loved. I evidently have a horrendous laugh, I smell, and I don’t even know my favorite color, but my granddaughter has no judgment, only love, for me.

My granddaughter could have made statements like: “Grandma, you have brown eyes.” Or, “Grandma, you live in Illinois.” Or, “Grandma, you have toys in your basement that I can play with.” All of those statements would have been true and all of them would have shown some knowledge of me. But one look at me could have determined the color of my eyes. One conversation with me could have revealed where I live. And one visit to my home could have discovered that I have toys in my basement.

Noticing how I look, where I live, and what I have in my house is gaining knowledge about me but these facts don’t amount to really knowing me. My granddaughter could identify my laugh because she has shared in my joy. She could recognize my smell because she has been near me and had spent time in my presence. She could determine my preferences because she has observed what I have consistently chosen.

Comprehending that my granddaughter so knows me and yet so loves me blessed me greatly. I thought to myself, “I believe God desires that same privilege of being really known and especially loved.”

Many Christians are content with a casual look at God and His Word, the infrequent conversation with Him, or the occasional visit to His house. In the process, they gain knowledge about God but they don’t come to really know Him. Many Believers may be satisfied with this shallow knowing and loving of God, but I don’t believe He is delighted with it.

After all, God completely knows and dearly loves. God’s Word is packed with verses that show just how much He knows and loves us. Some of my favorites are: “‘Even the hairs of your head are all numbered’” (Luke 17:12a). And, “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book” (Psalm 56:8)? And, “The LORD your God is in your midst, a Mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by his love; He will exult over you with loud singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).

I believe, God longs to have His love reciprocated. God has made knowing Him a possibility. “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). “I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me diligently find Me” (Proverbs 8:17). And knowing Him is what this life and the next is all about. “And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” John 17:3

The Apostle Paul learned that knowing God was the most important accomplishment of his life. “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

According to God, knowing Him surpasses all other achievements. “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD’” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

On this side of Heaven, we may not be able to know God exactly like my granddaughter knows me, yet, we can still know Him. Hearing the Lord laugh may be a little difficult, but the Scriptures tell us, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b). That must mean we can enter into His joy at some level and that experience will bless us with strength.

Right now, we may not be physically near enough to Christ to identify His scent, but the Bible says that God notices Jesus’ smell on us and that others who are coming to know Him can recognize it on us too. “We are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved” (2 Corinthians 2:15). When we spend time with Christ, without even realizing it, we must start smelling like Him.

And, here or in Heaven, we may never be able to figure out what Jesus’ favorite color is. But we can know with certainty even now what He would choose. The Bible tells us, “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16b). That is an incredible realization.

This week as we celebrate love, may you have the opportunity to come to know and love the LORD on a greater level. May you experience some of His joy. May you realize you smell more like Him than you have in the past. And May you more fully use His mind that He has given you.

¹ Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.