“There’s a great difference between knowledge about someone and knowing them in a way that transforms who you are.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – May 7, 2026
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. Acts 4:13-14, NKJV
There are many laudable and noble things people can say about us and that we should hope to be true of our lives. “He was a faithful husband.” “He loved his children and showed up when it mattered most.” “He served his community and looked out for the needs of his neighbor.” And yet, as I both look back upon my life and look ahead at the years I may have left, there is but one statement of identity that I hope and pray to be true above all else: “He was someone who had been with Jesus.”
As it is often said, there’s a great difference between knowledge about someone and knowing them in a way that transforms who you are. After living in Canada for a few years, I came home to visit family, and they all commented on my accent, which was entirely imperceivable to me. “You sound like a Canadian!” I’d spent so much time with Canadians that they were transforming the way I spoke. When my wife comes home from visiting her grandparents or cousins, I notice she picks up phrases or mannerisms she rarely uses on a day-to-day basis but that are typical of her extended family. I can immediately tell that she has been with family!
This is the kind of relational intimacy and communion that is meant to define every follower of Jesus. From years of studying his commandments and sharing life with his people, we are transformed, by his grace, into men and women who bear his likeness and live as those who dwell in his presence. This is the communion that the disciples and early Christians knew, and it is the transforming power that changed them in every way and turned the world upside down, and the same power is at work this very moment, inviting you into the long line of people who have been with Jesus and who will never be the same.
Prayer
Father, help us to live lives defined by the reality of your presence and in abiding communion with you, through Christ our Lord we pray, amen.
Application
How can you move from a mere knowledge about the Lord to an abiding life with the Lord?
Related Reading
Exodus 34:29; Proverbs 13:20; 2 Corinthians 3:18
Worship Resource
Passion, Kristian Stanfill: More Like Jesus
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