You will never be satisfied with just knowing about God. We often try but this always proves to be lacking and deficient. Life is so defeated when we just know about God, just a lot of facts and stats from the Bible. Knowing him comes only through experiencing him as he reveals himself to you.
I love that story of Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3-4). God initiates a relationship with Moses by speaking through that bush that burned yet was not being consumed. Eventually Moses asks the “elephant in the room” question, “When they ask me the name of this God who sent me, what am I supposed to tell them?” God tells him, “Tell them I AM THAT I AM has sent you” (Exodus 3:13-14). Moses comes to know God more fully through experience.
Abraham similarly came to know God more fully through experience. God asked him to sacrifice his only son, the son of promise, the one he loves. It was a test of obedience. God stopped the sacrifice and provided a ram in place of his son, and Abraham passed the test. The event was significant in the life of Abraham and he named the place, YHWH Yireh, “The LORD will Provide.”
Interestingly enough, Abraham did not use the past tense (since the ram was already provided), he used a “future” language. The significance is that this is the same location that generations from that time, God would provide the ultimate sacrifice of his own Son to provide salvation for the whole world (Genesis 22:14). God’s provision “will be seen.”
The next question is for us, “When and where have you experienced God so fully, intimately, and significantly that you actually are able to NAME that place?” How did you come to experience God? What name did you call him? This story in your life may be your salvation story, or it may be a time since your salvation where God became a real person to you. I’d love to hear your story.
If your interested, I have a list of Names of God throughout the Bible.