Sure, I watched cartoons as a kid—lots of them.  One of the most common plot devices involved characters who hadn’t encountered one another before.  One was a born predator and the other its natural prey—sweet, innocent, and harmless.  The predator, sensing no threat, unwisely drops its guard and even starts to trust the little angel, who soon reveals that its meek and mild persona is just a disguise.  The merry mayhem begins when the presumptive victim asks the audience in a mischievous stage whisper, “He doesn’t know me very well, does he?”  The lesson?  People are not always who or what they seem.

This admonition, if remembered in adulthood, may serve us well.  The world is definitely not getting safer, nor are interactions with strangers becoming less dangerous.  But if we should forget or dismiss this truth, painful experience will almost certainly remind us.  When we are betrayed or otherwise wronged by someone close to us, typically a person whom others like and approve based on short and shallow acquaintance, we are prone to mutter cynically, “You don’t know [him or her] like I do.”

Yet the very same phrase can be used to accentuate the positive—not to gossip or warn about a person, but to sing their praises and extoll their virtues.  In these instances, “You don’t know [him or her] like I do” takes on a new and opposite meaning.

Such is the case with Jesus Christ.  To those who would dismiss Him, discount Him, doubt Him, distrust Him, disbelieve Him, deny Him, run from Him, hide from Him, blame Him, blaspheme Him, curse Him, mock Him, slander Him, misrepresent Him, shun Him, hate Him and reject Him, I can say without fear of contradiction, “You don’t know Him like I do.” 

So, permit me to introduce Him to you.  I first met Jesus or rather, He first met me at a summer youth camp when I was about eight years old.  By the end of the week, which focused heavily on Him, my parents’ faith had become fully and authentically my own.  I discovered this when one of the adults asked if there was anyone who felt led to give their heart to Jesus right then and there.  I was surprised to see myself slide out of my chair in the ring around the campfire and onto my knees, in front of everyone.  I wanted it seems, to make Jesus mine, just as He had made me His own.

I will always be grateful to Jesus for giving me a hunger for God’s word, so that my knowledge and faith could quickly grow deeper and stronger.  As I pondered it in my heart and head, I took long walks at all hours, during which Jesus was a tutor, mentor, sounding board and close companion.  I posed questions to Him and listened for His answers.  He did not communicate in an audible voice of course, but I heard Him nonetheless, speaking plainly to my soul.

As we communed together in this way, through prayer and the study of God’s word, it became clear to me that I not only had a real and intimate personal relationship with the Son of God, but that our connection was in some sense unique—special to us.  Despite the indescribably vast differences between us, I could be myself around Jesus.  I could tell Him anything without fear of punishment, shame, or embarrassment.  Anyway, what would be the point of trying to mask my true thoughts and feelings from Someone who anticipates and understands them before they are even formed?

When you spend that much time with someone, discerning and discussing the issues of life, you learn a lot about them.  I found Jesus to be warm, sensitive to my needs (and my moods), gracious, compassionate, gentle, forgiving and kind.  He is almost infinitely patient (He would have to be, to put up with me).  Jesus daily proves that His interest in me is sincere.  His love for me is genuine.

The more I experienced what I had only read about—that Jesus knows and truly cares about me—the more willing I became to take Him at His word and step out in obedience to Him.  These ‘baby steps’ of faith began training me through practice and repetition to trust in Jesus more and more.  And just as He promises, I have never been disappointed.

Jesus showed me that He is thoroughly dependable.  Nothing takes Him by surprise.  His diagnosis is accurate and His counsel unfailingly wise.  He has convinced me that I can safely rely on Him, regardless of my circumstances.  As a result, my confidence is in Him, not in myself or in anyone or anything else.

Jesus keeps His promises—ALL of His promises—like His promise never to leave me or forsake me (a personal favorite and a great source of comfort).  I don’t have the slightest fear that He will run out on me or turn away from me in disgust.  Jesus ‘says what He means and means what He says.’  He does not contradict himself and does not change.  His word to me is utterly reliable.  In the entire time I’ve known Him, Jesus has never once lied to me or tried to deceive me.

Jesus has never wronged me or tempted me to do wrong.  Jesus never compromises His principles, never lowers His righteous standards, never drops His demand for holiness, and never ever bends His justice.  That’s the whole reason He came.  Jesus lived a sinless life, then laid it down for us.  He died on the cross to satisfy the law, not set it aside.  He saved us legitimately, by paying the penalty for our sin.  It’s not His nature to simply cover it up or look the other way.

That’s why Satan never saw it coming—his defeat at the hands of Jesus.  The Devil couldn’t believe that the Father would allow His precious Son to suffer, die and be buried for a lost world of sinners like me (and you). The evil one never dreamed that Jesus’ obedience to His Father’s will could be so perfect, so complete, that He would actually go through with the plan—voluntarily surrendering Himself to His enemies, to be tortured and executed as a criminal.  The Serpent never conceived that days after killing Him, Jesus would rise from the dead and ascend back into heaven, to await His coronation and the day when He Himself will judge the wicked.  Guess the Devil didn’t know Jesus very well, did he?

And how about you?  How well do you know Jesus?  Do you know Him well enough to scoff at all that I’ve just shared with you and push all thought of Him aside?  That won’t change the fact He loves you, died for you, and longs to have a personal relationship with you.  It won’t erase the date on His calendar when you are ordered to appear before Him to give an account of yourself.

How wonderful it would be if you knew Jesus like I do—as the Way, the Truth and the Llfe.  No one comes to the Father except through Him—my Redeemer, my Hero, my Champion, my Mediator, my Advocate with the Father, my Great High Priest who lives forever to make intercession for me, my Master, my Shepherd, my King, my Physician, my ever-present Help in times of trouble, my Light in the darkness, my steadfast Friend and so much more.

You’re still breathing, so there is still time to know Jesus as your Savior, rather than meet Him as your Judge.  To find out how, keep reading.  I’d like to get to know you one day, too.

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words, and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you.  Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can change you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams, and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

• “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)
• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)
• “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)
• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
• “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20)
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  (Romans 10:9-10)
• “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
• “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
• “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)