"Please understand me!"  How many times have those words passed through our mind or lips?  A child makes a plea to their parents and parents to their children.  A brother argues with a sister and a sister with a brother.  A wife entreats her husband and a husband his wife.  A worker presents their request to the boss and the boss to the worker.  A student asks a teacher for patience and a teacher asks a student for diligence.  A friend seeks understanding with a friend.

 

Yet who would dare to approach Jesus Christ in order to be understood by him?  To many times our efforts to be understood by others are merely efforts to gain approval from men.  But can approval from men provide protection from the penetrating gaze of Jesus Christ into our lives?  To be known by Christ is to be known to be a desperate sinner in need of a mighty savior.  To know Christ is to come to a safe haven where every sin can be laid naked at the foot of the cross covered fully by his blood.  To know Christ is to say "Please understand me!" and to gain full assurance that God himself knows every millimeter of our tangle of sin and still hear his urging, "trust in me!"

 

Others may or may not ever understand our plight in the fowlers net, but Christ, our gentle lamb of sacrifice, knows all.  "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12 WEB).

 

Lord God help us to press on to know and to be known in joyful anticipation of that great day when every secret is laid bare and hypocrisy no longer obscures the fellowship between you and your people.  Oh to see and be seen face to face!