To Know God is to love Him. What does that mean?

In the Bible (KJV), to know someone was to have a covenant relationship or contract in which an agreement was made between two people or a group of people; it was a vow or promise to be kept, to do for or never to do against someone(s). Two wonderful examples was between God and Noah, Genesis 9:11-17; and God and Abram (who God renamed Abraham), Genesis 15.

In the King James Version, if a man had sex with his wife, it was said that he “knew” her (Genesis 4:1), but if he had sex with a prostitute, a random woman or raped a woman; it was said that he “laid” (lay) with her (Genesis 34:1,2; Genesis 35:21,22). What was the difference besides the obvious? The first example was a covenant relationship between a man and his wife. In the second and third examples there was no such covenant.

The most chilling examples of assuming you have a covenant with the Lord, when you never excepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, are Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 13:22-30.

Loving God is not what we do for Him. It is what we do in Him. It is not what we look like. It is what we are in Him. You can’t fake it. 2 Timothy 2:19 says: “Never-the-less, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

The key to knowing God is loving Him. 1 John 4; 5.

There was a song that was No. 1 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1958. Yes, I did say 1958. It was written by Phil Spector who was in a group called “The Teddy Bears”. He was inspired by words on his father’s tombstone: “To Know Him Was to Love Him”. The verses mean nothing to me, but the chorus always makes me think of God (I changed “him” to “Him”): “To know, know, know Him is to love, love, love Him. Just to see Him smile, makes my life worthwhile. To know, know, know Him is to love, love, love Him and I do, yes I do, yes I do.”