Celebrating Gifts Given: Know Him

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are,” begins 1st John 3. “The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

We can see the love of the Father all around us. We have our basic needs – food, shelter, intimacy – and they are met through the love of our heavenly Father. There is no need that has been met that did not come from God. We are his children, and he provides for us.

The interesting part of this verse is the second half. The world does not know us because it does not know God. This raises the question, how do we know God? This question is one for which we all have different answers. Some of us know God through our parents, or relatives, or friends. Some of us were introduced to God as infants, while others learned about him in college or high school or at work. But the common denominator in all of these equations is the people who introduced us to God.

Think about that person, or those people. What would they want you to do? Let’s go back to the verse from 1st John. We know God, and we desire the world to know God, as well. The people who introduced us to God would want us to introduce others to God. That is how we can celebrate the gift they gave us – by sharing it.