Dr. Dan Hayden •
Some people say that ignorance is bliss. Well, that’s because—what you don’t know, can’t bother you. But that’s a pretty short-sighted view of life. Listen—what you don’t know can hurt you.
Psalm 100 is the “Thanksgiving Psalm,” and in verse 3 of that Psalm we are told that in order to be truly thankful to God, we have to know a few things. First, we need to know who the Lord is; and second, we need to know how we relate to Him. Verse 3 puts it this way: “Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” You see, in order to be truly thankful, we need to know something.
This word “know” is a Hebrew word that means more than simply having information about something. It means “to perceive or understand, or discern by personal acquaintance”. In other words, to “know that the Lord Himself is God” doesn’t just mean to know about Him. It means to have a personal acquaintance with Him.
Have you ever known anybody who was a name-dropper? “Oh, I know Michael Jordan.” Well, what they really mean is they shook his hand once. They may know something about him; but they really don’t know him personally.
Well, that’s how a lot of people are with God. They know about God because they go to church. But they don’t have a personal daily relationship with Him. So—do you want to have a thankful spirit? Well then, KNOW that the Lord is God.
Say—did you know that God wants to have a personal relationship with you?