And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:3
Dear Lord Jesus, meditating on this passage this morning has been like revisiting an old friend. It’s been over forty years since I was raised to new life in you, yet I feel like I’m just beginning to understand the true wonders of eternal life—the incomparable life that is ours, only because of who you are and what you’ve accomplished for us. As you first uttered these words in a prayer for your disciples, I find great joy in knowing that you continue to pray them for us.
I praise you that eternal life is so much more than simply living forever in your presence, though I so look forward to that. It’s about knowing God as our loving, engaged and sovereign Father; and knowing you—the “sent one,” the Messiah, our Lord, our Savior, our righteousness, our Bridegroom.
It’s not merely knowing about you, though there is so much more I do want to know about you, Lord Jesus; but knowing you intimately—in the most profound way imaginable. Perhaps even more astonishing, eternal life involves being known by you—being wanted, accepted, being delighted in; freed from all guilt, and in the process of being liberated from all shame.
Holy Spirit, the depth and vitality of my knowledge of God depends on your work; so my prayer is simple: keep me irrepressibly hungry and thirsty to know the LORD, better and better. Don’t let lesser breads satisfy this craving. Don’t let other waters slake this thirst. Don’t let me confuse mere knowledge with spirituality. Keep me redemptively discontent—thankful, but never satisfied with my current experience of the gospel. I don’t want just to be theologically right; I want perpetually to cry, “Abba, Father!”
Keep revealing more and more of Jesus to me. Humble me with his glory. Astonish me with his beauty. Mesmerize me with his mercy. Buckle my knees with his affections. Change me by his grace. Free me for his purposes. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ all-consuming and compassionate name.