You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus (Ephesians 4:20-21).

Do you remember how you came to know Christ?

Of course you do.

I was nineteen years old, living alone in a cabin in the woods. I had heard about Jesus, read about Jesus, even prayed to Jesus, but I didn’t know him, until one morning I was cutting up a fallen pine tree and a man strode out of the forest.

No, the man wasn’t Jesus–although that would have been a really cool story.

The man was a neighbor who had heard the chainsaw and come by to investigate. As we chatted, he asked me, point blank, if I knew Jesus. I stuttered and stumbled and muttered something about having read some of the Bible, but not having one right now…Later that evening, a knock at my door revealed another young man, also a neighbor, also not Jesus, holding a Bible.

“I heard you needed one of these. You should start with the book of John.”

So I did.

Remember how you first came to know him, Beloved. Remember the moment that you were drawn from this world into his. Let that memory color your perspective as you step out into the chaos that is Monday.

And I pray it’s a happy Monday, Beloved.