To truly know someone requires a relationship that goes beyond merely knowing about them. If you were to ask me if I knew President Eisenhower, I could say yes. He was elected president the day I was born. The problem is, he never knew me.

In the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus says something very unsettling. He says that if we are not ready for His coming, if we are unfaithful and prefer to go our own way rather than live God’s way, there will come a time when He says, “I don’t know you.” In the end, it will be more important for Jesus to say, “I know you,” than for us to claim, “I know Jesus.”

To truly know God is to know Him as a Father who loves us and wants us to be filled with His life. To truly know Jesus is to know Him as the One sent by the Father to bring His love and life to us. Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that you may have life.”

How will God know us? By accepting the gift of His Son as our Lord and Savior. How are we showing the world that we really know Jesus? By doing the things Jesus outlines in the 25th chapter of Matthew: bringing good news to the poor, feeding the hungry, showing hospitality to strangers, visiting the sick and those in prison, and loving people as Jesus did.

I pray that we will all live in a way that is faithful to God’s Word, and that we will say and do things that show His love to others.