The Greatest Joy

“The greatest joy is knowing God.” This truth greets me every morning on the back porch as I sit on my swing awaiting my dog to return from her morning toddle around the yard. It is engraved in a simple flower pot that a dear friend gave me years ago, which occasionally even has a flower in it, thanks to my loving husband.

Most of us have at best a mere taste of this “greatest joy”. This ultimate joy is not in knowing about God – God is the Big Man in the sky, the one to whom many pay homage on Sundays. It is not in knowing who God is – God is the Almighty, the King, made known to man in the flesh of Jesus Christ. This utmost joy is not even in knowing God’s many attributes – such as love, patience, graciousness, faithfulness, justice and mercy.

No, these ways of knowing are merely academic. Most people with the ability to learn can be taught about God, who He is and what He is like. Just like a math course, knowledge of God at a certain level can be obtained through scholarly study of the curriculum. God’s curriculum is, of course, His Word. But these types of knowledge do not bring the greatest joy.

The maximum joy that we can experience is “knowing”, not knowledge. I know a lot about Erwin McManus these days. He is one of my new favorite authors. His full name is Erwin Raphael McManus and he pastors the Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, California. According to the Wide Awake book jacket, he is an author, speaker, activist, filmmaker and innovator originally from El Salvador. He’s married to Kim. They have two children and a foster daughter. And that’s just a snippet.

From reading his book, I can tell he is all about dreaming and pursuing God-sized dreams. He admits to getting bored easily, having trouble completing things, and losing focus on the finish line. (Does this give you a clue why I might relate so well to him?) He is easily distracted and probably ADHD. (By the way, there is often a direct correlation between ADHD and intellectual giftedness.) Ironically, he has completed more things in half a lifetime than most men in a full one. Most importantly, he loves the one true God in all of His three persons.

I know a lot about Erwin. But I don’t know him from Adam. I only dream of the someday when I will meet him, fellowship with him, and collaborate with him. (How’s that for being an optimist!) Only then can I truly say I know him on some level.

“The greatest joy is knowing God.” Jesus said to His Father, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). We often think of eternal life as simply "forever life". But it is so much more! It is forever joy, a joy that comes from knowing God! And it begins on the day we believe.

Jesus said, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, (the ability to know God, the greatest joy!), and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40). This belief happens now, on earth, while we are yet in the flesh. And God’s promise is that with belief comes eternal life, a forever life of knowing God not just knowing about Him.

Have you truly believed? If so, have you truly embraced this great promise of God – the opportunity to know Him intimately, not just intellectually? This never ending, supernatural fellowship with God is indeed the greatest joy!