How do two individuals develop a close, intimate relationship with one another? Ask any married couple who are still very much in love how their relationship got off the ground and the discussion will inevitably revert to some story about how they first got to know each other. Knowledge is the key!   Getting to know someone will either repulse you and or draw you closer to them.

II Peter 3:18 commands us to grow in our knowledge of Christ. Where does this lead? II Peter 1:2-3 shows us the result: “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

We all want more peace in our lives and surely more grace from God would be a blessing. According to this passage, it is desiring to know more about Jesus that multiplies grace and peace to the believer. The “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” are gained through the knowledge of Christ.   What could be more intimate in our walk with the Lord than to “be partakers of the divine nature?”   In each case, the verses direct us back to the importance of growing in our awareness of who Jesus is and what he desires for each of us.

The means to gaining this knowledge is not meditating on a mountaintop, praying in tongues or seeking mystical spiritual experiences. Instead, we simply need to be pressing into those “exceeding great and precious promises” of the written word! Knowing the written word better will lead to knowing the living Word better!   What we see on the page is simply a black and white expression of our Saviour’s heart for us. An intimate knowledge of the Bible leads to an intimate relationship with Christ.   Reading and rereading his love letter will lead to us becoming ever more intimately acquainted with the One who gave His all for us.