Taking every thought captive for obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10.5)

The Question
What does God want most of all for you (4)?
We are insisting that what God wants most of all for you is that you might know Him. To know God is to enter into a relationship and realm of true, unabashed, and unashamed beauty; lavish, magnanimous, undeserved, and loving goodness; and pure, reliable, unchanging truth. And it is to know these personally, that is, as bound up in the Person of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – so that beauty, goodness, and truth become the environment in which you live, breathe, do your work, conduct your relationships, and realize your full potential as a human being.

To some, this might seem an unlikely prospect, and certainly, knowing God in this way is not without its trials, struggles, moments of darkness and feeling alone, or failures on our part to know this personal presence at all times.

But whenever such lapses and failures enter into our relationship with God, they are not because God has moved or changed, but because we have. And because God remains beautiful, good, and true yesterday, today, and forever, we can always make our way back to Him once we’ve acknowledged our need and sought Him from the depths of our soul.

It may seem unlikely or improbable that it actually is possible to know God in the way I’ve been describing. But to conclude this is either to admit a failure of imagination, or to manifest an unwillingness to consider the fact of God and the experience of untold multitudes who freely and confidently affirm Him to be precisely what I have described. So if you’re unwilling to allow your imagination to wander beyond the confines of your experience or the blinders of our secular and materialistic age, or if you refuse to consider as true facts more than 2,000 years of experience on the part of people from every nation, culture, tribe, language group, and walk of life, then of course, coming to know God in this way is not likely to be your experience.

Which will mean that you will miss that which God wants most of all for you.

However, I suspect your interest may be piqued. What I have been describing as God, and the prospect of knowing Him which I have been holding out, resonates with something in your soul. Not very loudly or clearly, but really and deeply. Is it possible that you are not who you think you are? That you were not brought into this world merely to enjoy as much of being alive as you can before you die and return to nothingness? That you may have been put here for something more real? More lasting? Something that transcends this space/time continuum of matter and energy?

Something – or Someone – eternal, unchanging, beautiful, good, and true?

If so, you may be asking yourself, if only ever so tentatively: How then may I come to know this God?

And if you’re asking that question, you’re probably also beginning to consider certain answers, answers which to you seem altogether reasonable, albeit not entirely agreeable.

Shall we consider some of these?

It’s likely that one of your answers to the question of how you may come to know God is that you simply have to be good. What God wants most of all for you is to be good, because if you are good, if you will set aside all those questionable behaviors, shameful thoughts, and self-serving ways, and concentrate more on being a saint, then God will receive you into His eternal presence, and the enjoyment of true beauty, goodness, and truth will be yours.

God, you may be thinking, wants you most of all to be good. If you will be good, He will be yours.

Well, it’s true that God wants us to be good. He intends us to be epicenters and agents of His goodness in the world, embracing everything consistent with His holy character and showing compassion, kindness, and love to all the people in our lives.

But what God wants most of all for you is to know Him, not to be good in His sight, as if you might gain His approval and be welcomed into eternal companionship with Him by virtue of some effort on your part.

No. If you desire to know God and to receive what He wants most of all for you, which is to know Him, then by all means, prepare your heart and mind for a life of goodness, a life refractive of the One Whom you are coming to know and love. But do not suppose that you gain His company on the basis of your own goodness. Being good is not the way to know God.

Knowing God as He reveals Himself to you is.

Weekly Review
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I encourage you, if you have not already, to subscribe to our Scriptorium and ReVision newsletters. Each morning Scriptorium brings you studies in God’s Word, using questions and meditations to guide you into a deeper understanding of Him and His will. We are about to finish our studies in the book of Acts, after which we will begin a panoramic overview of Scripture, following the unfolding of God’s covenant throughout. You can download each week’s daily studies in a free PDF form on Monday of each week.

Our new ReVision series is a five-part study of The Parameters of Prayer, in weekly installments.This week’s study examined The Primacy of Prayer, focusing on learning how to pray always and in everything. Tomorrow we will begin a week-long study of The Preconditions of Prayer.

Crosfigell is a Gaelic word that means cross vigil and refers to an ancient practice of seeking the Lord in prayer with arms outstretched, as suggested in various psalms. This week’s three columns encouraged us to trust in the Lord and His Word, be bold in resisting the devil, and take up the discipline of meditating on the Lord with greater frequency. You can read the installments of this week’s Crosfigell columns by clicking here.

Then watch a video on Personal Mission Field by clicking here, download your Personal Mission Field worksheet, and get started realizing more of the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom, right where you are. If you’re looking for ways to work your Personal Mission Field more consistently, sign-up for our Mission Partners Outreach. Details are available in a brief video by clicking here.

In Thursday’s The Week installment, we reported on the deleterious effects social media are having on many children, and encouraged Christians to be more careful in what is for many an inducement to self-seeking, narcissism, and wasting the Lord’s gift of time.

Saturday’s In the Gates columnprovides an overview of justice as the next priority which meditating on God’s Law can help to establish in our consciences.

Visit our website and bookstore to discover additional resources and publications to help you in your walk with and work for the Lord. Subscribe to more of our instructional newsletters. Read John Nunnikhoven’s daily Voices Together column. And while you’re at the website, watch the videos introducing our Men’s Prayer Movement and offering you an opportunity to assess the state of your Christian worldview.

T. M. Moore