Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12

To me, this is one of the best promises of heaven that there is. Not just to know God fully, but to KNOW that he knows me fully, that he has all along. My heart’s greatest longing is for someone who KNOWS me as I am, not as I appear to be, not by the political or religious or cultural mold someone has chosen for me, not as a pastor or a white man or an American or a small town hick (though I am all of these things, without regret). I need that Someone who knows me in my sin, which is uglier than I can ever admit, and yet who calls me higher, “further up and further in”*, someone who sees the stained and rotten clothing I have left behind and no longer defines me by it.

There is, of course, no one one earth who can do this for us completely. In the best marriages and friendships, we sometimes come close. But then we see in the other that which threatens us, and we attack it and run.

That’s why I always return from my fruitless searches to the One who promises in Revelation 2:17 that one day (if I overcome) he will give me “a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” Ah, to be NAMED by Him is to be known by Him, to receive His blessing, and to be granted a new destiny.

AMEN! Come (and name me) Lord Jesus!

*(A Narnia reference from The Last Battle(?))