Week Four - Day One: Getting Acquainted

In the Amplified Bible translation, Job 22:21 says, “Acquaint now yourself with God (agree with Him and show yourself to be conformed to His will) and be at peace; by that you shall prosper and great good shall come to you.”¹

Last Friday we began what will occupy our time together for the next several months. We will spend our time acquainting ourselves with God. But let’s begin with the end in mind. In this process we are after much more than information. We are after a real connection which shows itself in love for God and obedience to God!

Let me risk beating this horse until he’s past dead, but let’s make sure that really registered. The goal of this whole exercise is to build a real connection with God which shows itself in love for God and obedience to God!

And by love for God, I do mean to suggest a deep emotional attachment. Why do I say that? I suspect some of us are not used to thinking about our religion including an emotional attachment to God. We might be more accustomed to thinking of our religion producing a do-the-right-thing kind of effect. Maybe we also think of our religion as knowing things about God.

Remember, a relationship with God is … a relationship. I doubt my wife Diane would be very happy with our marriage if I did not really care for her and did not engage with her physically as well as emotionally – even if I knew a great deal about her history and her likes and dislikes – even if I did really nice things for her and always did what she wanted! As it turns out, God feels very much the same way.

It should be pointed out, however, that comparing my relationship with God to my relationship with Diane only goes so far. It is true that being in relationship with Diane means much more than knowing things about her. This is the point of the illustration, because this is also true of God. But there is also a significant difference between these relationships. Engaging with Diane means talking to her, caring for her, trying to do my part around the house, being with her physically, etc. Engaging with God, on the other hand, means submission and obedience. My relationship with God is not a relationship of equals. He moves, I submit!

“Wait a minute, Ed,” you may be thinking. “This sounds like we’re back to the do-the-right-thing kind of approach.” But there’s a significant difference between simply doing the right thing in an effort to be a better person and submitting myself to God. Simply put: one is about me; the other is about God. That’s why Jesus seems to connect the idea of loving God to the idea of obedience.

Acquainting ourselves with God is going to move us deeper and deeper into the territory of love for God and obedience to Him.

“Something more than a theoretical knowledge of God is needed by us. God is only truly known in the soul as we yield ourselves to Him, submit to His authority, and regulate all the details of our lives by His holy precepts and commandments.” ²

Before You Start Your Day

1. Read John 14:21-24.

   (21) Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

   (22) Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"

   (23) Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (24) He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

   1. Notice how Jesus weaves the themes of love for God, obedience to God and relationship with God together.
   2. Does this mean that God is offering Himself to us conditionally: if you obey me, I will be with you?
2. We said that a real connection with God “shows itself in love for God and obedience to God.” Which is harder for you?
3. Ask God to show you areas of your life that you need to submit to Him today.