When you want to be known....

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27).


As I scroll through my Instagram feed, I feel a heaviness in my spirit. I love pictures. I love stories. I love people.

However, for the past year or so God has opened my eyes to some things in my own life that needed pruning.

My desire to be known.

I think, deep down, we all have this desire.

Yet, the world twists it into something it was never meant to be.

God gave us this desire to be known, so He could fulfill it.

He wants us to know that we are known by Him.

We are adored by Him.

We are important to Him.

But, somewhere along the way, our flesh strives and screams and begs to be known by others.

To be regarded.

To be looked upon with fondness.

To be important.

To be noticed.

To be admired.

To be....

You fill in the blank.

I can put a lot of fills in those blanks. Through the years i have  filled those blanks with many things I wanted to be known for.

a good mom. 

a good wife. 

a good Christian. 

a good writer. 

I can go on for days, but I will stop here.

Social media is creating a monster in the hearts and minds of us and our children.

Thanks to the world wide web, you can get "known" for just about anything these days. And, I mean ANYTHING. Good, bad, and everything in between.

Things go viral in a hot second and suddenly someone is known by the world.

Haven't we seen this time and time again?

Deep down in the minds of our kids and maybe even us, we think if only we could be "discovered" and "known".  (I have definitely had this thought about being a writer. Many times. )

I have seen post after post of kids (and adults) asking their friends to like their post. To get the most likes they can possibly get.

Why?

To be known. 

We "follow" others on social media in hopes that they will "follow" us back.  We follow people we may not even know because they will follow us back.  The more followers we have, the more "known" we are.

It all goes back to one thing...

We crave being known.

Discovered.

Liked.

Thought of.

Talked about.

Admired.

How do we stop this crazy game that only leads to loneliness and lack of fulfillment?

We remember who we are.

We remember Whose we are.

We remember that we are known by the Only One that really knows us in the way we long to be known. The One who knows the exact number of hairs on your head. (Luke 12:7)

When we realize what a treasure we are to our Father in Heaven, we realize we don't want or need to be known by the world.

The fulfillment comes when we walk with the Holy Knowing of our place in Christ.

Heirs of the King.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

Chosen, Treasured. Dearly loved.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

We are known.

Nothing on earth compares to being known by our Father. No person. place, or thing could ever replace the filling that comes with this knowing.

Let's walk in this knowing. Let's point our children to this knowing. Let's point the way to Fulfillment. Shall we?


fully known by Him,


jill