A few weeks ago, the news was full of the scandal of Facebook allowing the information about its users to be harvested for political purposes. It raised the question: Who knows what about you?
It is a complex question, though. I am wary of big businesses knowing lots about me, but when someone gives me a gift that is just right for me, I am really pleased that the person knows me so well.
The difference is motive. Businesses may well do something good for you, but their motive is profit; if a friend does something that shows how well they know you, their motive is friendship. Being known by someone who loves and cares for you is not threatening, it is wonderful.
On the radio recently, I heard of a husband faithfully visiting his wife who was in care with dementia. Someone asked, “Why do you visit? She doesn’t know who you are.” He replied, “No, but I know who she is.”
Although this poor lady no longer knew other people, she was not alone because she was known.
The Bible tells us that none of us is unknown because God knows us. Even if you do not know who he is, he knows who you are. Psalm 139 begins:
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
I am still cautious about giving personal information to Facebook, Google and the rest, but I am very glad to be known by God, comfortable that he knows infinitely more about me than I know about him.
Mark Rev Mark Ward
