Getting To Know You

               I didn't grow up watching musicals.  People dancing around and singing in each other's faces simply because it was the month of June.  How dumb! 
            Well, by the time I was finishing High School, I began to find musicals much more interesting, much to the delight of my mother, who had grown up with them.  The King And I is one such musical that I've since found worthy of my time.  The main character, Anna (the "I" of The King And I), sings the song "Getting To Know You" as she builds a relationship both with the king of Siam and his many children.  Why must she bellow and twirl about it instead of simply noting that she was getting to know people better?  How dumb!  Okay, okay.  Yes, it's a little silly.  I'm not writing to win you over to musicals.  I'm not that great a writer.
            I only brought up musicals in order to mention the song "Getting To Know You".  It's really the theme of the story.  Anna is a school teacher from England suddenly thrust into the culture of a Siamese palace.  In this culture, you maintain your head lower than the king's while in his presence and you don't speak freely to the king unless given express permission.  The king is a difficult man to get to know, but Anna finds him worth knowing.  The story is about that process.
            Resisting your urge to gaze out an open window and burst into song, how well would you say you know Jesus?  It's a different question than "What are you doing for Jesus?", "How much time do you spend with Jesus?", or "How long have you known Jesus?".  It's different than asking about your obedience to Jesus.  It's not the same as asking you Bible Trivia questions about Jesus.  I'm not asking about your consistency in maintaining a time of prayer and Bible reading.
            How well do you know Jesus?  I'm asking the question because I believe it's key.  It's the reason for life.  It's why I'm a Christian.  It's the reason for obedience.  It's the reason for reading the Bible and praying.  It's the reason behind caring for the poor and oppressed.  It's the purpose behind suffering and the trials of life.  The point is to know Jesus.  It's all about "getting to know Him, getting to know all about Him."  If it helps you to twirl an umbrella while splashing through puddles as you express this, so be it.  If it must be sung, fear not.  An entire chorus of passersby will soon join you in every word you sing.  Yeah, I can't really defend musicals, but I enjoy them all the same.
            For every sermon you hear or devotional you read, keep this in mind.  The purpose for whatever action you feel called to take is to get to know Jesus better.  Feeding the poor.  Living poor.  Living with wealth.  Remaining faithful to your spouse.  Giving to the church.  Receiving from the church.  Volunteering with the youth group.  Teaching Sunday School.  Opening your Bible.  Spending an hour in prayer.  Spending 3 seconds in prayer.  Enjoying a glass of wine at sunset.  Refraining from wine.  Praising God for your good health.  Praising God when there's a bucket full of sick next to your bed.  Loving your enemies.  Hating the sin within you.  All that stuff.  The reason for these things is to know Jesus better. 
            Keep that in mind as you get up early or stay up late to read the Bible.  Keep that in mind when you pray for yourself and others.  Consider it when you give to charity.  Remember it when you show up week after week to teach Sunday School.  Reflect on it when you sit down with that glass of wine or when you choose to refrain.  Why do we do these things?  To feel better about ourselves?  To look better in front of others?  Out of Christian duty?  Tradition?  In an attempt to gain God's favor?  Because Pastor Dave suggested it in his sermon?  (I wrote that so tongue-in-cheek it hurt my mouth.  Lol.)  Why do we do the things we do? 
            Do what you do with a mindset to know Jesus better.  Let your perspective change to keep Jesus as the goal of your successes and failures.  If you do well, do you know Jesus better for it?  If you totally sucked it up, did it increase your relationship with Him?  Success or failure isn't the goal.  Knowing Jesus is the goal of it all.  " The go-o-o-o-o-al of it all!  The goal of it a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-all!  "  Uh, I'd better finish up before a line of grown men show up doing the Charleston as an expression of their desire to know Jesus better.