Because I spent so many years not living for Christ, I have sometimes wondered when I truly became a Christian. After much thought and prayer, I would now say that I did indeed become a Christian when I professed faith in Christ and was baptized at about age ten. But I did not really know God."But in the past, when you didn't know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods. But now... how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt elemental forces?" Galatians 4:8-9
For many years, my relationship with God was like my relationship with the senior pastor of my church. I go to a wonderful but very large church, so I don't really know our senior pastor personally. I've had a few very brief conversations with him; I've shaken his hand a few times; some of my good friends know him well and speak very highly of him; I've learned a good bit about his heart through hearing him preach. But I don't KNOW him. We aren't, as Anne Shirley (of Green Gables) would say, "bosom friends." That's how it was with me and God for many years. I had friends who knew Him and spoke highly of Him; I'd had a few brief conversations with Him, and I'd learned some things about Him and about His heart. But God was not my "bosom friend." It has only been in very recent years that I feel like I can honestly say I know God.
I was once enslaved to many "weak and bankrupt" things that are not gods. I never want to return to those things. I have now come to know God, and my life will never be the same because of it. Because of Him.
[Please don't think our church is impersonal just because it's large. I have a wonderful pastor whom I do know personally (one of the associate pastors), a fabulous Sunday school class, and I've made the best friends I've ever had in my life. But with more than 5,000 members our senior pastor just can't possibly have a personal relationship with every one of us. He is a great man, but has his limitations, unlike God who can know us all personally!]
