Left in the Dark

Wow. . . . That was like the longest break from blogging I've done in a while. It was a great vacation from blogging, but I'M BACK! Sorry to leave you guys in the dark about a lot of stuff that happened this week. It was an physically and emotionally draining week and I really didn't have the strength in me to blog this week. I would regale you on all the events but I'm afraid that would take days of writing, so I'm just going to pick right back up like I never took the hiatus. Sorry once again.

Don't you hate being left in the dark about things? I do. Now you may not give one rat's patooey that I've left you in the dark (albeit didn't tell you anything that happened this week), because, frankly, my life really isn't THAT interesting. But we HATE being left in the dark, don't we? Think about your favorite television show. You HATE to miss an episode, right? I used to watch Seventh Heaven RELIGIOUSLY! I didn't want to miss an episode. I wouldn't schedule anything because I just had to watch Seventh Heaven. I know, the episodes would get kind of lame every once in a while, but I LOVED Seventh Heaven.

There's really no spiritual application to all this except that people hate to be left in the dark, especially when it comes to relationships. You've heard it millions of times. Be open, be honest, be genuine and your relationships will be fruitful. There are a handful of friends that I entrust everything to - a couple buddies of mine and my girlfriend. I trust them with information and with my feelings because there is a mutual level of intimacy among us where we can thoroughly confide in and trust each other. BUT, if I decided not to trust them with those things, if I decide to withhold things from them that were important to me, they would never truly KNOW me. I wouldn't really be sharing my life with them and that level of intimacy wouldn't be there.

There are two words in the original Greek text of the Bible that mean "to know." The first is "ginosko" which means "to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of." This "ginosko" is the knowledge that we have about thinks such as historical facts, math formulas, or subject/verb agreement. It is a displaced knowledge of things, knowing ABOUT something or someone without having EXPERIENCED those things or people.

The second word is "epiginosko," which means "to become thoroughly acquainted with, to know thoroughly." This "to know" is an INTIMATE relationship, to fully experience something or someone, to know someone inside and out. This is the level of intimacy that requires work. This is a level of intimacy that allows you to confide in someone. This is a level of intimacy in which you can finish each other's sentences and you have all kinds of inside jokes. But this level of intimacy requires total honesty even if you don't feel like talking about something. This is the only way human relationships can really experience true fulfillment.

This "epiginosko" is the type of relationship Jesus Christ wants us to enter into with Him. He's beckoning, He's calling, and He's romancing us. It's up to us to respond. How intimate do you want to be with your maker?