Blind Date
By Grant Gaines
Have you ever considered how strange of an ordeal a blind date is? You go into a date with a stranger only knowing what someone else told you about that person. You’ve had no previous knowledge of them, what they look like, or even what they like and don’t like. The only picture you have of them is the word picture your friend painted for you when they told you about this stranger you’re about to go on a blind date with. And I think we can all agree that while you can certainly learn a lot about someone through secondhand information, you can’t really know someone unless you’ve personally spent a lot of time with that person.
Unfortunately for us today, that statement describes so many Christians in our culture – they know a lot about the LORD, but don’t really know the LORD. And why is that the case? Because they’re essentially going on a blind date with God. Let me explain.
In a blind date, someone else gives you all the information on the person you’re going on a date with. You personally don’t know anything about this special someone because you haven’t spent any time with them – you only know what other people have told you.
In the same way, so many believers are satisfied with hearing what preachers have to say about the Lord rather than personally spending time with Him to find out what He’s like themselves. Of course it’s important to learn what other wise men and women have learned throughout their time walking with Christ, but we would be foolish to think that our personal relationship with our heavenly Father can flourish when we only hear secondhand information about our King.
This is similar to what the Israelites experienced in Deuteronomy 5 after audibly hearing the Lord on their exodus from Egypt. Think about what great a treasure that must have been – they had the unfathomable privilege of literally hearing the audible voice of the living God! However, despite this precious treasure, the Israelites didn’t want to embrace this honor any longer. Instead, the community approached Moses and bargained with him, “Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey” (Deuteronomy 5:27, NIV).
They wanted to know what the Lord said more than they really wanted to know the Lord.
What a sad reality that is. They gave the impression that they wanted to know God, but they weren’t actually willing to put in the effort. Just like a blind date, they wanted Moses to gather all the information about the Lord and relay it to them rather than finding out on their own.
The same could be said about so many of us today. If we want to know the Lord, we can’t just listen to what other people say about Him, we must personally spend time with Him to get to know what He’s like, what He loves, and what He desires. Personal time with the Lord is the primary way you can grow in your relationship with Him – not listening to a sermon, not reading a book about someone’s experience with Him, and not even through reading this blog. Time with the Lord cannot be replaced by secondhand knowledge.
Are you on a blind date with the Lord?
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©Grant Gaines 2016
