Dear World:

     My name is Courtney.  I have a social security number, no license, and no car.  I have two parents, two sisters, a rabbit named Oreo and a beta fish named Roberto.  I'm challenged in the height department and I sing.  A lot.  My favorite colors are yellow and green, I'm a hopeless romantic, I love God, I typically wear my heart on my sleeve, I'm originally from Kentucky and I love children.
     So by now you're asking yourself, "Who is this girl and why does she keep talking about herself?"  Let's take that question and run with it.  From the multitude of facts I've just given you, can you tell me?  You can walk out on the street right now and scream out everything I just told you.  The people who hear you won't know who I am.  The few people that do know me, and are willing to admit to it, don't just know how old I am or what my name is or how I look.  The people that know me know ME.  They know the person that I am.  They know my likes and my dislikes, what makes me feel better on one of those bad days, what makes me angry, how I show love and when I try to hide my emotions.  In short, they know my heart.  In order to really know someone, you need to know their heart.
     Think about it: every friend you have that has proven themselves as a friend has proven that they know your heart.  Your family has shown that they know your heart.  If you have a boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse, they should be showing an interest in knowing your heart.  You are also clumped into that group that's trying to get to know your heart.  It's not an easy task, is it?  It requires time and patience and trial and error.  It makes you fail sometimes.  And then it gives you a double shot of espresso and kicks your butt right out the door.  Truly knowing someone is more than just knowing a name.
     That's how it is with God.  So many people walk around, falsely assuming that just because they know of God, they're safe.  They think they have their ticket to Heaven.  Do you realize how many people there are out there who know the word "God", yet have no clue as to Who He is or what He does?  People who can recite the Lord's Prayer or the Ten Commandments, who can retell Bible stories like Daniel and the lion's den or Moses parting the sea.  But that knowledge means absolutely nothing if you don't have a personal relationship with the One who made it all possible.
     It's more than simply assuming that God would or wouldn't be happy with your life.  It's digging so deep in the Word that you can't find a way out, and you don't want to find one.  It's falling so deeply in love with the Savior.  It's knowing Him and loving Him so completely and fully that everything you do revolves around the love you have for Him, the life that He's blessed you with.  It's knowing who God is.  And in this knowing, in this knowledge of God and why He created us, which was for His own purposes, we find ourselves.  It's in this relationship that we finally realize our potential, what we can or could be in Christ.
     John 4:39-42 is a wonderful demonstration of what I'm talking about.  The Samaritans had heard the story of the woman who had been at the well with Jesus, declaring that this man had told her all that she had ever done.  So they called upon Jesus themselves and asked to hear directly from Him personally.  In verse 42, the Samaritans make it very clear that they did believe in Jesus, but it wasn't merely because of the woman's testimony.  Although her testimony led them to seek Jesus out for themselves, they believed because they knew Jesus for themselves, because they spent time with Him and got to know Him.
     So I encourage you today to go looking for answers.  Don't just settle for what you hear at church, Bible study, or through your pastors.  Get to know God for yourself.  Find out Who He is.  And find out who you are in Him.  I promise you won't be disappointed.