Several Christmases ago, Bishop Richard Garrison of the Johns Creek Ward in Georgia, made his way to the pulpit after the Ward Choir had finished their Christmas program.  He would be the program’s closing speaker.  It had been a beautiful program.  I expected his remarks would continue the Spirit of what we had just heard.

He started his remarks by saying, “This week I had an experience that stopped me in my tracks.”  He recounted how a family had come to the Bishop’s office to participate in their annual tithing settlement.  One of the children was holding some bills in his hands, apparently prepared to “make up the difference” in what he had paid so far, from what he felt he owed.

But what caught the Bishop’s attention was the smallest child of the family, who was clutching an envelope.  The Bishop assumed that this was also a “make up the difference” envelope, so he reached out his hand to the child, assuming it made the most sense to start with the smallest child and work his way up to the parents.

Bishop Garrison liked the way Tithing Settlement provided an opportunity for teaching small children about the importance of recognizing God’s blessings in their lives and feeling gratitude for all that God had given them.  So, he was a bit surprised when, instead of giving the Bishop the envelope, the little child seemed to clutch it more strongly.  He said to the Bishop, “Bishop, do you know God?”

Bishop Garrison smiled and said, “Well, son, thanks to our scriptures, I am able to know a lot about God.  And you can, too, as you continue to hear scripture stories at Primary and in Family Home Evening.”

The Bishop reached out his hand again to the little boy.  But the boy said, “No Bishop!  Not, ‘Do you know about God?’  He repeated simply,  “Do you know God?”

A little surprised by this, Bishop Garrison thought for a second, and then he said, “Thanks to the wonderful restoration of the Gospel, today we have a living Prophet who speaks with God. He is able to guide us in knowing what God wants us to do.”  The little boy seemed to be getting agitated.

“But do you know God?” he insisted on knowing.

At this point, Bishop Garrison paused in his recounting of this experience.  He is an adult convert to the Church.  He said that this question caught him between the eyes.  As he continued recounting this experience he said, “You know, I have had many, many interviews in this Church.  I was interviewed before baptism, before receiving the Priesthood, and every year by my Bishop.  I’ve been interviewed for each advancement in the Priesthood.  I was interviewed before receiving my temple endowments and have been interviewed many times to renew my temple recommend.  I was interviewed before I was called as a Bishop.”

Again, another pause.  And then he continued, “But I have never been asked if I know God.”

Before answering the child this time, the Bishop said he had to look deep into his own heart. Did he really know God?  The child was waiting for him to answer.  He said as he searched his own soul, a sweet feeling of spiritual confirmation was washing over him.  It brought tears to his eyes.  He said to this child, softly and humbly, “Yes, my friend.  I know God.” 

The child seemed relieved to hear this.  “Oh good,” the child said as he reached out his hand to finally give the Bishop his envelope.  “Can you give this letter to him for me?”

At this point in the story, laughter rippled through the congregation.

The Bishop opened his scriptures and quoted John 3:17, which reads:

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”

On one occasion, after quoting this scripture, Joseph Smith had commented that the degree to which we knew God would determine the degree to which we would have eternal life.

That’s a heart-stopping thought.  It begs the question, “How does one really know God?”

There are ways that we can each know God.  Of course, there’s the beauty of the opportunity prayer offers to draw close to God.  We hear often about how reading the scriptures could help us to understand God better.  But, if we truly want our goal this year to be to know God,  I would suggest that the best way to do that is to try to do the things God did.

Jesus was the earthly manifestation of what His Father was like.  Jesus showed us the way.   So, if we try to follow Jesus, by doing the things that He did, we should better understand God.  We could know God.

Well, what did Jesus do? He kept the laws of God.  He boldly taught truth, He healed the sick, He raised the dead, He relieved those who were suffering, He gave comfort to those in despair, He gave hope to the hopeless.  He fed the hungry.  He also said, “Come follow me.”  On another occasion He said, “Do the things which ye have seen me do.”  (Matt 19:2)

It’s a little tough for most of us to have the necessary faith to raise the dead, calm a tempestuous sea, or walk on water.  But we can certainly follow in the Savior’s footsteps to render loving service to our fellow men and women.

On one occasion Jesus gave us a hint to what the judgement would be based on.  He said that in that great day we would be divided into two groups, which He listed as “sheep” or “goats”.  The sheep would be on His right hand, the goats on His left.

He would say to the sheep,  “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matt 25:35-46)

Mother Teresa taught: “To make it possible for me to see the face of God with my human eyes, He has made Himself the hungry one, the naked one, the homeless one, the lonely one and He says: Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.”

I used to think that I could get closer to God by reading the scriptures more and more and by praying more diligently.  While these are both true, I have learned that trying to follow in Christ’s footsteps has a unique power to bring us into His presence.  I know God in a way now that I never did before.  It has automatically affected the way I pray.  It has automatically affected how I read the scriptures.

My husband likes to joke that he and I are most likely to be judged as “g-eeps” or “sh-oats”!  We try to serve others, but certainly miss opportunities every day.  This coming year, I’m going to try to be a sheep at least once every day.  I’ve learned that if I pray each day to recognize an opportunity to serve, I can usually find one.

Elder Neal Maxwell once said, “So much power to do good lies within our present circumstances that, alas, goes unused; so many opportunities go ignored that could bring to pass much righteousness.  We would be staggered and ashamed if we saw fully the unused possibilities for service that surround each of us all of the time.”

This coming year, I am determined to recognize the opportunities around me, to greet all I see with a warm greeting, or at least a smile; to encourage, to compliment, to accept people’s differences, to care a little more.  By this time next year, I hope to know God a little better.  I’m inviting you to join me in this quest.  I would love to hear from you, as you draw nearer to God through service to His children.