Do you think God knows you? Why do you think that? Have you ever spoken with him? Has he ever helped you? Have you given him anything? Do you think about him? Have you ever asked him to forgive you? Have you ever trusted him?

If you've ever been involved with a charitable fundraiser you may be aware that existing donor names are tapped for additional giving. Often, volunteers claim names from a list of organizational supporters, to call and ask these friends and acquaintances for a contribution. Lists are also purged of individuals who no longer wish to support or be identified with the organization.

Having recently been involved in such an event, I found myself thinking that of all the people on the list, most of us knew some of the names but none of us knew all the names. Then I thought of the Book of Life that is mentioned in Revelations in the Bible. It's a book of names, the names of the redeemed, those who have botched things up and to whom God has restored honor, worth and reputation, and whom God now knows personally.

Hearing, knowing and responding to the voice of another implies a relationship. Jesus says in John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me."

Then there is also the "having known" category or the estranged relationship; a relationship gone bad, where one can hear and know the other but there is generally no responding.

So we're dealing with not knowing, knowing, having known — from not having a relationship to having a relationship or to once having had a relationship that is now estranged.

Some people claim to know God, but in I John 2:3-6 we read that "We know that we have come to know him (God) if we obey his commands. The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him."

Dear friend, please consider the fact that maybe you know of God, but you really don't know him personally or are estranged from him. He wants you to know him personally. He wants to speak to you and to get a response back.

Meeting new people can open up a new world of opportunities, friendships and new directions. Meet the most important person you'll ever want to know, meet Jesus Christ, God's son who has loved you all your life and who waits to be known by you. When you are ready to know him, he'll be there for you. Just don't wait too long. Time is short.

I hope that you, like the Timothy of the New Testament will be able to say, "For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed to Him ..." — the thing you commit to him being your name, in the Book of Life.