by Rich Carlson

I want to know God, and I have discovered that Jeremiah has some very interesting things to say about that quest. Jeremiah, in the above text, puts it pretty clearly and simply: “Do you want to know Me? Then defend the cause of the poor and needy.”  

God said to Job, “Can you by searching find out (or know) God?” (Job 11:7) To know Him is “life eternal” (John 17:3), so it sounds like a pretty significant thing to accomplish. Very basic, yet very profound.  

Through Jeremiah I realized that there is something much more significant than merely knowing information about God. The next step is what becomes most important. Knowing God means doing something that blesses those who have less than I do.  

It’s not just saying, “Smile, God loves you,” to my best friend. It’s taking action to demonstrate to those who have no friends that someone is on their side. It’s not just praying and meditating on His word, it’s taking it one step further by actively doing something with the strength and focus I have gained from God, to provide peace and stability for those who do not have it right now. Defending others means you love what God loves, get angry at what angers God, and become the defender of the unfortunate.  

James says that “true religion” is not the formality of worship styles in the sanctuary, but caring for the orphans and widows in their affliction (James 1:27). It is doing something positive with what He has given me, so that those who don’t feel as much happiness as I do will be able to see a clearer picture of what for them may have seemed like a shadowy picture.  

I pray that each of us will look around and pick one person, one situation, one negative environment, and do something about it for God. Imagine what our world would look like if we were all that caring and other-centered. I want to “know God.” I will know Him when I do something good for one of His children.

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. "God is Faithful" is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.