Eternal Life, so what?

• John 17:3 (NASB)

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"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3)

Really? That's it? Eternal life is 'knowing' God? Is it really worth all the effort we go through every day?

Perhaps part of the issue is that we don't fully grasp what it means to 'know' God. The word Jesus uses here is 'ginosko'; And it means so much more than a simple recognition.

We tend to use 'know' to be synonymous with 'acquainted'. For instance, 'I know my coworkers' simply implies that if I see them on the street I'll recognize them. Ginosko, on the other hand, is a deep, intimate knowledge.

Think of it in terms of intimacy. When we are intimate with another person, we achieve a much deeper understanding of the person (the two made one flesh). From that time on, part of us is forever bound to that other person, regardless of what happens. We have 'known' them.

This is the way Jesus wants us to 'know' God. If 'God is love', then to know God then, is to know love. It is to know a love so pure, so true and so full that nothing could surpass it. Thisis the definition of eternal life, juxtaposed against a life without God, a life of sadness and separation; a life without knowing true love.

When put in this context, it seems like something I don't ever want to be without...

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