Do You Know Him?

Do you know Him—

or only the thought of Him?

We love the idea of Him—

the comfort of forgiveness,

the balm of His love,

the hush of peace that settles when His name is whispered.

But do you love Him?

Or do you love only what He gives?

Do you know Him— really know Him?

Or do you only know of Him?

There is a difference.

To know Him is to lay yourself down.

To deny self, take up your cross,

to say it with every breath, every step: “Not I, but Christ in me.”

Our flesh will never choose Jesus.

The bent of our heart is always self.

It is only Christ within us who can speak, “Not me, Lord, but You.”

Even Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, felt the storm within.

The Son of God prayed in the garden—

if there was another way, let it be.

Yet love and obedience pressed Him onward. Pressed Him to the Cross.

The Cross— where shame and sin collided with mercy.

The Cross— where the darkness laughed too soon.

The Cross— where love stretched wide its arms, bled, and won.

But God.

Oh, But God. 

And with the break of dawn on the third day, the Son rose.

Jesus denied His life, and gave us ours. He surrendered His humanity, and handed us freedom. His death became our victory over death.

This world is but a vapor.

We are like dust caught in the wind—

one moment here, the next, gone.

So what will you do with your one fleeting life?

Will you spend it to glorify self—

or to know Christ, and to make Him known?