Do You Know Jesus?

I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me.

“Do you know Harper?” Evelyn said to Camila at lunch, eager to inform her best friend about the new girl she met at camp. “She plays basketball too.”

“No, I don’t think I’ve run into her during basketball season. I wonder what team she is on.” Camila zipped open her lunch bag. “What’s she like?”

“Harper’s great! She has three older siblings, and she loves horses and drawing.” Evelyn paused to think before continuing. “She has a super-fat, orange cat named Peanut. I really want you to meet her!”

“That’s cool,” Camila said. “I’m up for meeting her. She sounds nice.”

In this conversation, it’s easy to see that Evelyn knows Harper while Camila just knows a few things about Harper, right? She knows only the details Evelyn shared and can’t say that she is friends with Harper, even if she hopes someday to be Harper’s friend.

When you think about Jesus, are you like Evelyn or are you like Camila? If your relationship with Jesus is based only on what you hear in Sunday school or from a friend, you are like Camila. You know about Jesus, but you don’t know Jesus. If you’ve asked Jesus to forgive your sins, invited him to be your Savior, and pray and read the Bible, then you are like Evelyn because you talk to Jesus directly.

Just as we build friendships over time and by doing things together, we build our relationship with Jesus the same way. We spend time reading our Bibles and ask Jesus to show us how to live our lives by reading about his. We talk to him—out loud, in our thoughts, or a mix of both—before we go to sleep and as we go about our daily tasks. We worship him when we hum or sing a favorite worship song to him.

John reminds us that knowing about Jesus will never be enough. Jesus wants to be our very best friend, and that only happens when we spend time talking to him and reading what he had to say.

Things to Think About

• Where do you get most of your information about Jesus? Do you get it only from other people or by reading the Bible and talking to him?
• Ask an adult you love how she or he talks with God and consider which suggestions you might adopt.

DAILY ACT OF FRIENDSHIP

Set aside ten minutes each day for reading your Bible and five minutes for talking out loud to Jesus, not in formal prayer, but as you would talk to a trusted friend.