Consider that you do not know me. How would you get to know me? You could go into my house when I wasn't home. You would be able to discern that I like to read, that I am a musician, and that I like to cook, but would that mean that you knew me? Or you could talk to my wife and my family. They would tell you things about me, but would you know me? Obviously, to know me requires that you get to know me personally and through direct relationship with me.
To know God is the most important thing in all of life as a human being. It forms the foundational proposition that presupposes every other thought and feeling. Because of the significance of this monumental and bedrock point of knowledge, it is often subsumed to the degree that people assume to know God when they have no real idea of what that proposition entails.
A basic epistemological definition is in order. Because we are referring to the knowledge of God, we are in fact dealing with a person. This should not be overlooked, for much damage has been done when God has been referred to as an it or an entity instead of a person, a He. This is a necessary place to start the discussion.
Because God is a He, knowledge is dependent upon relationship, i.e. knowing God in relationship. The point here is intimacy. Knowledge of God is more than knowledge about Him; it is knowledge of who He is. This is the point made by God Himself when He introduces Himself to Moses in the desert. "I am who I am," is not merely a statement of God's self-existence, it is also a remark on how we are to know Him too.
While the purpose of this brief dialogue has been one of information, the implications of devotional. Because knowing God is based on intimate relationship with Him, in order for us to know Him, we must be in relationship with Him. Therefore, for us to know God more we need to treat our relatioship with Him in a manner befitting relationships that matter to us. For instance, we will talk with Him, think about how we can love Him, and spend time with Him. These are the requisites of knowing God that if left undone will hinder our knowledge of Him. Let us then devote ourselves to God so as to know God.
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