1. Walking with the person. This is casual acquaintance (know a person
by name but no real relationship). This can happen every day as we walk
going to school or our workplace and we 'bump' into people or we get
introduced to the person at a function, at diner or at a party. Example:
I know who our president is (by name), but does the president know who I
am? A lot of people also know God (by name) and even call out His name
(Mat 7:21). And just like our president would say to me, “I don’t know
you,” so will God also say to all those who had only casually known Him,
“I know you not.” (Mat 25:12). John 1:10, He was in the world, and the
world was made by him, and the world knew him not. This is sad because
of not knowing Him.
2. Working with the person. This is a deeper acquaintance
(workmates/friends). I know my workmates and my workmates know me
personally as we work together on the same job. We have the same
passion, and love to do the same things; we are together eight hours a
day. We have a working relationship. But after work hours I could be a
different person than the one my workmates have known at work. Judas,
one of the twelve, has a working relationship with Jesus (Mat 26:14,
47). The five foolish virgins have a working relationship with their
bridegroom (Mat 25:1-12). They were with Him but not as it should be.
3. Living with the person. This is the deepest form of acquaintance
(being married to the person). Here is where the deepest of knowing each
other comes out. Living with the person makes we know that person in
the deepest sense of the word. We are with the person 24-hour-days,
8-days a week. This enables us to not only know the person's name but
more so the person's personality and character. We get to know the
person best in this situation because we are with the person and the
person is with us. We get to know the person's moods. We get to know the
person’s attitude, principles, purpose or goal in life, aspirations,
and ups and downs. In this situation, we get to know how the person
reacts towards certain experiences and conditions and in everyday
issues. We get to feel the person’s spirit and all that is in that
person’s heart. We are not only hearing the person speak, but also
seeing the person do and we become witnesses to that person’s life. In
such a situation, we use all our senses to get to know the person:
hearing, seeing, feeling, touching, and tasting the goodness (or
badness) of that person. John 17:3, “And this is life eternal, that they
might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent.” This is the kind of relationship we want to establish with our
Lord and Savior. This is eternal life. It begins here and now and not
after we die. John 1:38-39, “Then Jesus turned, and saw them following,
and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is
to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto
them, Come and see…” This is the time they came to know Him personally
and as time went by their knowledge of Him grew. Nathaniel first knew
nothing about Jesus, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?”
verse 46. Later he said, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the
King of Israel” verse 49. Thomas who doubted Jesus would later say, “My
Lord and my God (John 20:28).” It was very personal to him this time. It
was not because of what the others told him, but what he saw with his
own eyes and heard with own ears and touched with his own hands. Later,
John the beloved, also wrote about his personal encounter with Jesus and
he was a very old man at this time but still remember so vividly what
he had experienced with Jesus. 1John 1:1, That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.
We’re so grateful for this and one longs to establish this kind of
relationship with our Lord, our Master, and our Savior. So that it can
be a very personal one with my Lord, my Master, my Savior, and the
Bridegroom of my soul…
R. Aragones
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