There He was, Jesus- the head of the church, just standing at the door to our sanctuary to shake people’s hands as they went in. Everyone I saw had to file past Him to get in for service, but I was quite far back in the crowd so I had the opportunity to observe all the familiar faces of the regular attendees: the pastors, the studiers of the Word, the worshippers, the teachers, the prayer warriors, the back seaters, the hiders, the servers, the non-servers… we were all there.
All of us could hear Jesus’ voice resonate over the hum of the crowd; as He shook each hand, He said hello to every person, by either saying, “Hi, I know you _______; glad you are here,” or “Hi, I don’t know you but it’s good to see you.” It made me wonder why some He knew and some He didn’t. I speculated on each person as they went by, whether Jesus knew them or not, and sometimes those I was sure He would know, He didn’t, while some I was sure He wouldn’t know, He did.
It made me wonder what He would say when I went through. People would know the truth of my inconsistent relationship with Him; they might find out my speech is more godly than my actions. They might find out I rely more on myself and the world around me, than on Jesus. They might find out my lack of trust… What if He doesn’t know me?
The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. Na. 1:7
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Mt. 7:21-23
The truth is, it doesn’t matter how many scriptures we know and can quote, how ‘spiritually’ we can pray, how skilled we are at worship, how often we serve, the truth is Jesus either knows us or He doesn’t and it is based on our relationship with Him. Either we spend the time with Him (not just reading about Him and asking for things) and truly get to know and understand Him, or we don’t. It’s our choice really.
Oh Lord, help us to know You better every day, so that when we stand before You we can hear You say
“Well done (insert name), welcome!”