🌿 Women’s Devotional — Day 222

The Deepest Longing of My Soul Is to Know God

📖 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. “
—John 17:3 (NKJV)

Jesus had finished preparing His disciples for His departure. Then He lifted His eyes toward heaven and prayed. He knew that betrayal, arrest, false accusations, suffering, and crucifixion were near. Yet His prayer did not begin with fear. Jesus spoke of the Father’s glory, the work He had been given to accomplish, and the eternal life He gives. Then He defined eternal life: “That they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Eternal life is life without end, but it is not merely endless existence. It is knowing God. Jesus was speaking of a real relationship—not simply familiarity with religious language or possession of biblical information. Knowing the truth about God is essential because I cannot faithfully trust someone I have misunderstood. Yet accurate knowledge alone is not the same as knowing Him. I can know the language of Christianity. I can understand important doctrines. I can quote Scripture, explain the gospel, identify false teaching, and participate faithfully in the church. I can do all of that while allowing my personal fellowship with God to become distant, mechanical, or neglected. It is possible to study God as a subject while resisting Him as Lord. James wrote, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19, NKJV). Demons know that God exists. They recognize the authority of Jesus. Their knowledge is not joined to love, faith, submission, or worship. Therefore, I must ask more than, “Do I believe correct things about God?” Do I know Him? Have I received His Son? Do I trust His character when circumstances become painful? Do I submit when His Word confronts my desires? Do I seek His presence—or only His help?

Jesus called the Father “the only true God.” He did not describe Him as one option among many equally valid paths. There is one true God. He has not left me to create Him according to my imagination, experiences, preferences, or unmet needs. He has revealed Himself through His Word and through His Son. Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9, NKJV). This means I must allow Scripture to correct the image of God I have formed through human relationships. If an earthly father was distant, controlling, absent, inconsistent, or harsh, I may expect God to resemble him. If love has often been conditional, I may assume God’s care must be maintained through performance. If authority has been misused against me, I may struggle to believe that God’s authority is holy and good. If people who spoke in His name wounded me, I may confuse their conduct with His character. Those experiences can affect how I perceive God, but they do not define who He is. God defines Himself. He is not a magnified version of the people who failed me. He is perfectly holy, just, truthful, compassionate, faithful, and good. Human sin may distort my understanding, but God’s Word restores it. I must also guard against creating a god who never contradicts me. A god who approves every desire, affirms every decision, and never calls me to repentance may feel comforting, but such a god is only a reflection of myself.

The true God comforts and corrects. He forgives and commands. He welcomes repentant sinners and transforms those who come. He does not change His holiness to preserve my comfort. Knowing Him requires humility because I must receive Him as He is. Jesus also joined knowing the Father with knowing “Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” I cannot reject the Son while claiming a relationship with the Father. Jesus is not merely a teacher who points toward one possible path to God. He is the One the Father sent. He is the Christ—the promised Savior and King. He died for our sins and rose from the dead. Eternal life is received through faith in Him. Perhaps I have spent much of my life trying to obtain life through something else. I may have believed life would finally begin when I married, became a mother, found meaningful work, established financial security, completed an education, recovered my health, entered ministry, or discovered the place where I truly belonged. Some of those desires may be good. But no created gift can bear the weight of becoming my life. Marriage cannot give eternal life. Children cannot give eternal life. Work cannot give eternal life. Health, security, usefulness, and human love cannot give eternal life. Even ministry cannot substitute for knowing God. I can become so occupied with serving Him that I neglect fellowship with Him. I can prepare lessons, encourage others, meet practical needs, defend truth, and complete responsibilities while my own heart becomes weary and spiritually dry. Service for God is not the same as communion with God. Martha welcomed Jesus into her home and became distracted by much serving. Mary sat at His feet and heard His word. Jesus did not condemn service itself, but He exposed Martha’s anxiety and distraction. He said, “One thing is needed” (Luke 10:42, NKJV). My responsibilities are real, and many cannot simply be abandoned. Yet I must not allow constant activity to convince me that I am walking closely with God merely because I am doing things associated with Him. 

Jesus did not say eternal life is accomplished by doing enough for God. He said it is knowing Him. This changes the purpose of spiritual disciplines. I read Scripture not merely to complete a plan, prepare something for another person, or prove consistency. I read because God has spoken and I want to know Him truthfully. I pray not merely to present a list of needs. I come to the Father through the Son, bringing worship, confession, thanksgiving, intercession, sorrow, and dependence. I obey not to purchase His acceptance but because I trust His character and recognize His authority. I gather with other believers not merely to attend a service but to worship God, receive His Word, use the gifts He has given, and participate in the life of His people. Knowing God does not remove mystery from every painful season.

There will be times when I understand His character more clearly than I understand His actions. I may pray faithfully and receive an answer I did not desire. I may obey and still experience loss. I may make a wise decision and encounter consequences I could not have predicted. I may search for an explanation and find that Scripture has not revealed every reason behind my suffering. In those moments, knowing God becomes more precious than knowing why. I may not know what He is doing. I may not know how long the trial will continue. I can know that He remains present. I may not understand why He permitted a loss. I can know that He did not spare His own Son but gave Him for us. Christian maturity does not mean I will eventually receive an explanation for everything. It means I increasingly learn to trust the God whose character has been revealed, even when His purposes remain hidden from me. 

The women of the earliest churches lived among many competing gods. Religious worship was connected to homes, cities, occupations, festivals, and family expectations. Some women may have spent years trying to secure divine favor through offerings and rituals. Then they heard the gospel. There was one true God. He was not an image made by human hands. He had made heaven and earth. He had sent His Son into the world. Jesus Christ had died for sinners and risen from the grave. Through Him, they could know God. Imagine a woman who had spent her life believing the spiritual world was filled with unpredictable powers. She had performed ceremonies because she feared what might happen if she stopped. Then she entered a gathering of believers and heard Jesus’ prayer read aloud: “This is eternal life, that they may know You.” The true God was not hiding behind an idol. He had made Himself known in His Son. She did not need to manipulate Him through rituals. She could approach Him through Christ. She did not need to live beneath the fear of many rival gods. She could belong to the only true God. Yet that allegiance could become costly. Relatives might not understand why she no longer participated in former worship. Neighbors might accuse Christians of rejecting the customs that held society together. Her refusal could affect relationships and security. Secondhand belief would not sustain her. She needed to know the One for whom she was standing. So do I. Borrowed convictions weaken under prolonged pressure. If my faith rests primarily upon a pastor, teacher, family member, church community, or season of emotional experience, what happens when that person fails, that community changes, or that emotion disappears? Faithful believers help me grow, but they cannot become the foundation of my relationship with God. Christ must remain the foundation.

Knowing God also protects me from making a person spiritually indispensable. God may use someone to teach, encourage, correct, or strengthen me, but no human being should occupy the place that belongs to Christ. A mentor may leave. A pastor may fail. A friendship may change. A woman I admired may disappoint me. The loss may be painful, but it does not remove my access to God. Through Jesus Christ, I can know Him for myself. That does not mean I become independent of the church. God designed believers to need one another. But healthy Christian fellowship directs me toward Christ rather than creating dependence upon someone who attempts to stand between Him and me. The greatest promise of eternal life is not simply escape from death, reunion with loved ones, or residence in a world without suffering. Those are precious hopes, but they are not the center. God Himself is the treasure. Eternal life means I will know Him. I know Him truly now, though not yet completely. One day, faith will become sight, sin will no longer interfere with fellowship, and I will dwell in His presence forever. Until then, the deepest purpose of my life is not to become indispensable, impressive, perfectly secure, or understood by everyone. It is to know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. Knowing Christ means I no longer have to search for life in roles, relationships, accomplishments, or approval. These things may be gifts, but they are not my life. My life is found in Him. 

Prayer:
Father, thank You for sending Jesus Christ so that I may be forgiven and brought into a true relationship with You. Keep me from settling for religious knowledge while neglecting personal fellowship with You. Correct every understanding of Your character that has been shaped more by human failure, painful experiences, or personal preference than by Your Word. Forgive me for seeking life in relationships, accomplishments, security, usefulness, or ministry. Teach me to receive good gifts without asking them to become what only You can be. When I do not understand Your purposes, help me trust the character You have revealed through Your Son. Draw me into Your Word, deepen my prayer, and make obedience the response of a heart that knows You. Let knowing You become the deepest longing and greatest treasure of my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.