The president of Nigeria is an immensely popular figure, it’s safe to say he’s no stranger to anyone in Nigeria. So one of those days I was discussing with a young lady, and I asked if she knew the president and she replied in the affirmative. “Oh really”, so I preceded to ask “Can you please tell me, between eba and fufu (akpu), which is his preferred swallow?” At this point, she was clueless and confessed she didn’t know. So I continued my questioning “But do you think his wife would know the preference of her husband, the president, between eba and fufu? -To this, she affirmed, “Definitely, his wife would”.
The difference between my friend and the president’s wife is that one knows about the president while one knows the president. One reads about him on the newspaper while one reads his facial expression every day in the house. One watches him have special lunch on TV, one eats dinner with him every night.
There’s a world of difference between knowing about someone and KNOWING someone. One requires the description and explanation of a 3rd party, one is a direct experiential intimate involvement.
In our world today, everybody knows about God but only a few actually know God. Religion is often the 3rd party that acts as the media man telling us about God but Jesus is the exclusive intimate channel to actually know God. So I ask you -do you know God or do you just know about Him?
They are two problems with just knowing about God:
- The media man of religion often twists & mangles who He really is -so what is left is whom they say He is & not who He really is. You end up thinking you know Him but you really don’t.
- Just like knowing about the president doesn’t mean he knows you, how you do or where you live. So also knowing about God doesn’t mean He knows you personally as His child nor will he relate with you as Hbis child.
The proof of knowing God is like the proof of an orange tree; it’s not the orange leaves that show externally but the fruit it produces! To know God to be known by God, to love God & to produce God’s fruits.
Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous (1 John 3:7)
It is not in the outward leafy show of being religious or moral. For many moral & religious men God knows not. Jesus said it quite plainly “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord…I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you (Matt 7:22,23).
You see, knowing God is not a function of an academic or mental knowledge but an experiential knowing received only through Jesus. It’s through Jesus you know God and He knows you, and it is that knowing that gives you the gift called righteousness & produces the fruit called good works.
Don’t let religion deceive you and don’t deceive yourself. Knowing about God doesnt save, even the devil knows about Him (James 2:19). God calls you today for more than a head knowledge, He offers you a chance to know Him through Jesus, won’t you take it?
Digital Tracts 
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