As you may know, I am a Starbucks regular. Twice a day, that's where you can find me. In the morning I get a venti black ice tea, no sweetener. And later in the afternoon, I get a 50 cent refill. I love Starbucks---the ambiance, the smell of fresh brewed coffee and the baristas. So recently when I felt led to fast Starbucks for 40 days, it was truly a sacrifice. During the forty days I went to other places to get ice tea, but it just wasn't the same.
When my fast was over, I gladly returned to my routine. For the first several days the barista's at my neighborhood Starbuck's asked me where I had been. "We were afraid you went to another store, or that you had moved or worse that something had happened to you."
In addition to the ambiance and the fresh coffee aroma, I love Starbucks because I am known. Often my drink is ready even before I get to the register. Almost every visit I am greeted by name and asked about my well being and my day. I also try to get to know the baristas. I ask their names and inquire how they are. I offer to pray for their needs and occasionally they seek me out to ask for prayer.
This seldom happens at other coffee shops and bookstores I frequent. And even though they may have good ice tea, I have found that I would rather go somewhere where I know and am known. So, I have a question for you dear reader. What does it mean to be known? How can God know us? (Read To Know and Be Known - Part 1)
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2 comments:
Doesn't "To be known" mean to be loved and to be loved is to be known? God knows us, knows me, through his unconditional love. I don't always feel known for sure. I think because we are rarely truly known by each other. Don't we yearn for that though?... for the kind of love that knows me through and through...that doesn’t hesitate despite anything it finds in me. My challenge is trying to understand the stunning truth that God meets our deepest longing for unconditional love.
This is absolutely true! God does know and love us unconditionally, even when we don't feel it. There is great comfort in this truth and promise! However, the verses in Matthew 7 seem to refer to a relationship intimacy. Not just the Lord knowing us, but the Lord knowing us from our response to and relationahip with Him---hearing him, really listening to Him and obeying Him. I comment on this further in the third and final part of this posting. (By the way, I don't know who wrote this, so if you want to be known, leave your name:o)
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