Knowing the Lord

Matthew 9 : 9 - 13

I desire mercy, not sacrifice

Hosea 6: 3 - 6

...and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings...

Knowing God means to understand his heart, rather than merely be able to demonstrate skilled exposition. I come to believe this now, more and more, as I move on along the Christian spiritual journey. Perhaps there was a time when skilled exposition was very important. It was a time of great hunger to understand the Word of God and I did need a certain cognitive input to get me going. But after many years.....I have begun to realize how little I got to know God's heart then. I was too easily satisfied with much information, coupled with superficial application. As I have got to know myself and of course the 'murky waters' within better, I realize that such an approach would be inadequate to truly "acknowledge" God.

Jesus frequently challenged the very learned religious leaders of his time. They could not be faulted in their grasp of the laws. They could not even be faulted in their practices - according to the letter of the law. But there was a huge gap between their form of acknowledgement and Jesus' approach, especially towards 'sinners'. Merciful love. Love that goes beyond our comfort zones. Love that risks being misunderstood, that is beyond rational explanation. I really want to learn to reach out as Jesus did - to be able to 'see' others through his eyes. I am rather quick to assess people from the outside, and often miss out on the treasures that lie beneath the exterior. All of us wear masks at times for self-protection, and it takes a truly loving person, who cares enough, to be able to draw us out. Matthew the tax collector saw and heard in Jesus' look and his voice something inviting, more exciting than the wealth promised him at the tax collector's booth. Jesus drew him out of a wealthy yet unfulfilled life unto himself.

We get to know God's heart by recalling, by relishing, how He called us to himself, how he drew us out of a directionless life to a life of intimacy with him. I don't think 'mercy' can be authentically learnt any other way. Information does not change hearts. Those who "acknowledge the Lord", whose hearts are being changed day by day are those who have met the Lord in the depths of their 'sickness' and received healing by the Divine Physician.