Briefing: Do you know God? How do you know Him?

Dispatch (Assignment): A great exercise for this lesson is to take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center. On one side write the name of a historical figure you admire and on the other side write God. Now list what you know about each person. Who do you know better?

On the Street: Do you know who Abraham Lincoln is? You probably know he was president of the United States during the American Civil War. You probably know he gave the Gettysburg address. You might even know a few lines from the speech, “Four score and seven years ago?” If you were given the assignment to write a paper on Abraham Lincoln, how would you go about gathering your information? If you did not know him you would have to do research to gain knowledge of him.

Do you know God, your Heavenly Father? Is it important to know Him and if so, how important? What is the importance of knowing God (on a scale of 1-10)? If someone came up to you and asked, “How can I get to know God better?” what would your answer be? Take a moment and think about these questions.

Men and women have a purpose. God put us on this earth to glorify Him. If this is my purpose, the better I know Him, what He likes and dislikes, what His expectations are and how He expects me to live and act, then I want to know all about Him that I can.

If you want to play basketball, it’s a good idea to learn the rules. If you desire to be good, you learn the basics and practice. Your challenge is to keep learning. Once you know the basics you start working on improving technique and you find there is teamwork involved. You have to play offense and defense, unlike football where you can specialize in one or the other. A good player is a student of the game learning things like time/clock management, running plays, building endurance and mental toughness. You start scouting the teams you are going to play to see what kind of talent they have and what plays they run.

Getting to know God is much the same. It takes time, effort, energy and intentionality. You have to be committed. How committed are you to knowing God?

To get intimately familiar with God is a journey. I have two suggestions to start you on your way, talk to God (prayer) and get to know Him (read the Bible).

The book of Proverbs gives us some direction on reading God’s Word. Proverbs 2:6 (NIV) says, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” We are blessed to have the words of God’s mouth in writing. They are found in sixty six books of the Bible. We know this is not the only place we find God’s word but in the times we live in, it is the most common place to find them.

Proverbs 3:1 (NIV) says, “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart” We have to be intentional about not just reading the Bible once and checking it off our holy list, but reading it daily, putting into practice the things His words reveal to us.

In Proverbs 30:5 (NIV) we see that, “Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” God’s gifts are free, but an unopened gift under the Christmas tree does no one any good. Notice the verse says, “to those who TAKE refuge” It requires you to take action. God throws us the life preserver but we have to take hold of it.

Investigational Resources: Hosea 6:3 and 6:6, John 1:1, 8:31, Luke 24:32 and 24:45, Romans 1:19, Psalm 119:105, James 1:22, and 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Officer Safety Principle: We have to study God’s Word. You may be called as an expert witness one day. Will you be prepared?

from The Book of Proverbs Through the Eyes of a Cop
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
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