Katie Nelson

“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” – Galatians 5:1

The law is rules and standards that I could never keep. Christ died to set me free from that way of living. Don’t get caught up trying to please God that way, instead stay focused on my need for Christ and God’s love for me.

Well that seems easy enough.

Or is it?

Recently, the Lord pointed out to me that I have once again gotten tied up in efficiency mode. This is not the first time. I tend to worship simplicity and efficiency. But, this time it’s a little different. Just disguised enough that I didn’t recognize it right away.

This past summer, I studied Proverbs. Amazing, life-giving, so much wisdom. The main thing I came away with is that doing things God’s way is best, for sure. Which means I have to know God’s way. And Proverbs breaks it down into bite-size nuggets of wisdom. Take Proverbs 16:17 for example, “The highway of the upright avoids evil: those who guard their ways preserve their lives.”  Or Proverbs 13:10, “Wherever there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.” Or Proverbs 16:3, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Over and over again, Proverbs points out the folly of selfish living and the wisdom of humble dependence on the Lord.

So I got that down. Wisdom = living God’s way.

Read the word, live it out, pray.

I like that’s it’s catchy and succinct, but it’s missing something…

Eventually, God helped me out by gently whispering something along the lines of – What about… the love?

The love.

Lord, I’m so sorry. I’ve been so caught up in getting things done for you, I missed sitting with you and enjoying you. I was missing out on the relationship with the One who created the way of wisdom, the way of abundant life. You are so much more than just rules to follow in order to live efficiently, to live my best life. You want to know me and for me to know you.

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:12-13

God knows me completely. And He wants me to know Him.

That’s why Jesus died. So that we could have eternal life, an eternal relationship with Him, an eternal love.

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.’” -Jeremiah 9:23-24

In this holiday season, may we not boast in anything but the fact that because of Your love for us, we know You.